Department for Transport

Transport: Cornwall

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to invest in transport infrastructure in Cornwall.

Jesse Norman: The Department is investing significantly in transport infrastructure in Cornwall. This spending is helping to deliver a package of investment worth over £2 billion on the strategic road network in the wider south-west, as well as major improvements to the region’s rail network.Examples on Cornwall specific investment are presented below: Strategic Roads  £76 million investment in dualling the A30 between Temple and Higher Carblake (which opened in July 2017) and £290 million for a new 8.7 mile dual carriageway on the A30 between Chiverton and Carland Cross.RailThe new fleet of 29 Hitachi trains being introduced to services between London and the South West represent an investment worth £361m.The Government has contributed £9m to a package to modernise the Cornish Sleeper trains and move maintenance of the trains from London to a new facility at Penzance Long Rock Depot, creating new local jobs.We are also resignalling the main line from Totnes to Penzance via Plymouth, enabling a more frequent local/regional service to operate on this line.£1.2 million through the Access for All programme for a new footbridge with accessible lifts at St Austell station.AviationGovernment investment in a new direct air route between Newquay and Heathrow Airport from April 2019 which will give passengers a choice of more than 200 destinations across 85 countries via Heathrow.Local Transport Schemes£78 million government investment towards the cost of the St Austell Link Road.£16 million government contribution towards the Camborne–Pool–Redruth (East–West Link) road.£5.5 million for Local Pinch Point schemes at Rialton Link, Treluswell and Union Corner Junctions.£38 million annually for local highway and other local transport maintenance and improvements in Cornwall (up from £30 million in 2010/2011), including over £1.3 million through the Pothole Action Fund.£10 million through the Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund for major asset renewal and improved cycle provision on the main arterial route connecting Truro with the A30 at Carland Cross; and for targeted repair works at 53 sites on the local road network.£2.3 million towards a package of sustainable transport measures in Central and East Cornwall through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.Growth DealThe Growth Deal funding settlement of over £78 million for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will deliver improvements to Penzance, St Erth and Truro stations and funded Wi-Fi in virtually all Cornish stations. It is also funding lounges / showers for sleeper passengers at Penzance, Truro and Paddington. St Erth is also being upgraded to a new transport interchange including Park & Ride parking for St Ives.Growth Deal money totalling £8 million is also being used to fund a package of improvements to the bus network, including new cleaner vehicles, bus stop improvements and integrated ticketing.

Railways: Environment Protection

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of potential improvements to the environmental performance of railways.

Andrew Jones: Rail is generally an environmentally friendly way to travel or move goods. While recognising the difficulty of making comparisons between different modes of transport, the rail industry estimates that emissions are less than 115 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometre for rail compared to over 130 grams for private cars and over 150 grams for air travel. Each tonne of freight transported by rail reduces carbon emissions by 76 per cent compared to road haulage. We are nevertheless committed to ensuring that the environmental performance of rail continues to improve. As part of a programme of ongoing work across government and industry to evaluate the railway's impact on carbon emissions, air quality, environmental noise and biodiversity, reports have recently been published on decarbonisation and lineside vegetation.

Railways: Energy

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the rising cost of energy on the rail industry.

Andrew Jones: We have not made an assessment of the effect of the rising cost of energy in the rail industry.For information, fuel costs made up 3% of franchised train operator expenditure in 2017/18, the same proportion as in 2016/17. For additional information on income and expenditure in the rail industry please view the UK Rail Industry Financials, published by the Office of Rail and Road at the link below:http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/40351/uk-rail-industry-financial-information-2017-18.pdf

M20: Road Traffic Control

Joseph Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking through Operation Brock to prepare for potential congestion around junctions 3, 4 and 5 of the M25 motorway as a result of disruption on the M20 and M26 in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Jesse Norman: The plans for Operation Brock have been designed to keep traffic flowing in both directions on the M20 in the event of disruption to freight and other transport across the Channel. It would also thereby alleviate traffic congestion across the neighbouring strategic and local road network. The deployment of the M26 to queue Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) temporarily will only be done in the unlikely event that capacity has been exceeded elsewhere under Brock contingency planning. The routes that HGVs will be directed to travel under Brock will be clearly signposted, and have been designed to minimise disruption on other roads, such as the M25, as much as possible.

Northern: Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much is Arriva Rail North contributing towards the cost of the new fleet of rolling stock as set out in the terms of its franchise agreement with the Department.

Andrew Jones: Northern are not funding the new rolling stock. The new rolling stock fleet is being financed by Eversholt Rail Group.

Railways: Compensation

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost to the public purse of Network Rail compensation payments to service providers following disruption to the rail infrastructure network in 2018.

Andrew Jones: Network Rail publishes information on compensation paid to train operators on the transparency pages of its website. This data is recorded by financial year. Information on total schedule 4 and 8 payments (track access contracts, which cover planned disruptions and unplanned disruptions to services on the rail infrastructure network) for the latest financial year 17/18 can be viewed on Network Rails website:https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/transparency-and-ethics/transparency/datasets/

Railways: Medway

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to increase the number of train carriages from the Medway towns to London in (a) morning rush hour and (b) overall.

Andrew Jones: Since the introduction of Thameslink services in Kent in May 2018, Rainham has seen an increase in services and capacity to London during the morning peak and throughout the day. Gillingham has seen a small reduction in Southeastern services to Victoria and Cannon Street, however has gained Thameslink services. The Class 700 trains used by Thameslink have more capacity compared to the previous Southeastern trains. They are modern, state of the art trains, with real time passenger information and air conditioning. Both stations now have direct services to London Bridge and through the Thameslink core, to Blackfriars, City Thameslink and Farringdon. For many passengers, this removes the need to interchange onto the London Underground to complete their journey.

Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern Rail Franchise

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what decisions his Department has taken on the next Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Department has started considering the future of the Thameslink, Southern, and Great Northern franchise (TSGN). We are working closely with the Williams Rail Review, which is examining the most appropriate organisational and commercial models for the future of the rail industry. As a result, a decision will not be made regarding the future of TSGN before the Review findings are published in Autumn 2019.

Seaborne Freight

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse has been of (a) due diligence checks and (b) other work carried out by or on behalf of his Department in relation to the Seaborne Freight contract.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: For all three freight contracts, the combined costs of external legal, financial and project assurance advice up to the end of December 2018 were approximately £800,000. Subsequent costs up to termination cannot yet be derived as contracts are still live and invoices pending.

Cycling and Walking

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that all active travel initiatives that specify walking and cycling also include horse riding.

Jesse Norman: The Government’s response to the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Safety Review, published in November 2018, included a number of measures which will benefit horse riders, including making motorists aware of the need to leave safe distances when over taking people cycling or horse riding. The Government will also consider the needs of horse riders in its forthcoming review of the Highway Code. The Government does not intend to specify that all active travel initiatives should include a horse-riding element: decisions on this are a matter for local authorities.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money (a) has been paid and (b) is waiting to be paid to legal firms or lawyers by (i) HS2 and (ii) his Department in respect of any aspect of High Speed 2 in each of the last five years.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The HS2 budget is £55.7bn and legal costs are included therein.

Aviation: Southwark

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many flights flew over the London Borough of Southwark in each of the last three years.

Jesse Norman: The Department does not record or hold this type of information. Airspace use is complex and it is very difficult to assess the level of air traffic over a given area. However, specific airports may be able to provide details of the level of their air traffic which impacts on certain communities.

Seaborne Freight

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2019 to Question 205963, for what reason the contract with Seaborne Freight was withdrawn.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Following the withdrawal of an important prospective backer, Arklow Shipping, the Secretary of State concluded that the core requirements of the contract could no longer be met, and therefore exercised his right to terminate.

Seaborne Freight

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants worked on the (a) contract, (b) due diligence and (c) award of the ferry route to Seaborne Freight.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The contract awarded to Seaborne was part of a broader procurement exercise to secure additional freight capacity after Brexit. The precise staff time involved could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Seaborne Freight

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect withdrawing from the Seaborne Freight contract will have on preparations for leaving the EU without a deal.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Seaborne Freight contract represented approximately a quarter of the capacity acquired in the December contracts. The Department continues to explore options for promoting freight capacity in the event of a no-deal exit.

Seaborne Freight

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse has been of (a) expenditure on the procurement process for and (b) legal advice around cancelling the Seaborne freight deal; and what the estimated cost of replacing that contract with another firm is.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: For all three freight contracts, the combined costs of external legal, financial and project assurance advice up to the end of December 2018 were approximately £800,000. Subsequent costs up to termination cannot yet be derived as contracts are still live and invoices pending. We have made no estimate of the cost of replacing the Seaborne Freight contract with another. However, the contract reflected estimated market rates.

Driving: Licensing

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the status of EU Member State driving licences will be in the event of the UK leaving the EU (a) without a deal and (b) with the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration as currently drafted.

Chris Grayling: In all EU exit scenarios, the UK will continue to recognise EU driving licences for both visitors and residents as we do currently. We have published this information on gov.uk. This was confirmed in an SI which was passed in October 2018.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which EU agencies his Department plans to seek continued membership of after the UK has left the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: The Government’s position remains as set out in the White Paper “The future Relationship between the UK and the EU” published in July last year. This states we will seek participation in the European Aviation Safety Agency and co-operation with the European Maritime Safety Agency.

Railways: Compensation

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department is making on the introduction of an automated delay repay compensation scheme that is interoperable across train operating companies.

Andrew Jones: As announced by the Secretary of State in October, the Government will mandate new franchises to introduce simple “one-click” automated claims systems, available via smartphones and smartcard registration. This will make it easier for passengers to claim compensation when they have suffered delays. We are also encouraging “one-click” compensation to be introduced across all DfT train operators.

Railways: Tickets

Henry Smith: What plans his Department has to expand smart ticketing for rail passengers.

Andrew Jones: We have launched a consultation on extending the very popular pay-as-you-go Oyster system to other parts of the south-east, and we are looking at the underlying principles for the rest of the country, too. As the public consultation document sets out, we are considering different options, and I would encourage anyone who believes their local station should be included in a pay-as-you-go zone to respond to the consultation, saying what they want and why.

Transport: Social Mobility

Jo Platt: What recent assessment he has made of the importance of transport connectivity to social mobility.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Good transport connectivity is critical for social mobility and allows people to access a wider pool of economic opportunities, from high quality jobs to education and training opportunities. That is why we have committed record capital investment in the transport systems and why we have put more spending power in the hands of local communities who best know the needs of their area.

Railway Stations

Mike Amesbury: What steps he is taking to increase accessibility and capacity at local railway stations.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We are committed to improving accessibility and in April I will be announcing the stations which will benefit from an additional £300m of Access for All funding. This is in addition to access improvements being delivered at stations by the industry itself.

Bus Services: Tees Valley

Dr Paul Williams: What steps he is taking to improve bus services in Teesside.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Bus Services Act 2017 provides the tools that local authorities need to improve local bus services. Bus Open Data powers in the Act will require bus operators in England to open up information about routes, timetables, fares and tickets in real time for passengers by 2020. These improvements aim to improve journey planning and help passengers secure best value tickets. We are working with interested local authorities to determine which of the powers provided are best able to support bus networks in their areas.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Domestic Appliances: Scotland

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the detention of (a) unsafe and (b) non-compliant electrical consumer goods at ports and borders in Scotland; and whether he has plans to allocate additional funding for those activities.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Office for Product Safety and Standards will publish its first Strategic Assessment covering trends in relation to the safety of goods in due course and this will inform future decisions about how best to support capacity on the front line, including in Scotland.

Domestic Appliances: Scotland

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the volume of (a) unsafe and (b) non-compliant electrical consumer goods entering Scotland at its ports and borders.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing the first national Strategic Assessment to identify trends and risks associated with the supply and use of consumer goods. This will provide a comprehensive analysis of how well the product safety system functions and will support local authorities and other agencies to prioritise their operational decisions and interventions based on evidence and risk. In addition, the OPSS is working to support local authorities in Scotland to further improve product safety.

Borders: Scotland

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is made available by the Office for Product Safety and Standards to the Scottish Government to improve safety at ports and borders in scotland.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Office for Product Safety and Standards is working to support local authorities in Scotland including at ports and borders, to further improve product safety. For example, OPSS has provided free technical training on product safety to local authority officers, provided all front-line officers with free access to British Standards on line and training on risk assessment will take place in March. We are exploring what additional support and resource would assist with safety at ports and borders.

Domestic Appliances: Scotland

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made on the cost to the Scottish economy of the sale of (a) counterfeit and (b) substandard electrical products.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government does not hold data for estimating the cost to the Scottish economy of counterfeit or substandard electrical products.

Fuels: Prices

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of trends in the level of fuel prices in different areas of the country.

Claire Perry: The Government does not collect official statistics on regional fuel prices.

Fossil Fuels: North West

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timeframe is for a decision to made by the Oil and Gas Authority in relation to Petroleum Oil and Gas Licence (PEDL) 193 to move this PEDL into the Production Term on 1st July 2019.

Claire Perry: The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) are responsible for granting and monitoring all onshore Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDLs). For PEDL193, the OGA last year agreed to a Retention Area Work Plan under which the licensee(s) are obliged to acquire new seismic data by 30 June 2020, submit a planning application to drill a well by 30 June 2022, and drill, hydraulically fracture and flow test a well by 30 June 2024. Details of this licence variation can be found on the OGA website via the following link: https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/media/5260/retention-areas-agreed-december-2018-updated.pdf.

Energy Supply: Weather

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the level of security of supply of electricity for winter 2019; and whether he is taking steps to improve that level of security.

Claire Perry: National Grid’s Winter Outlook for 2018/19 published in November 2018 showed that there was an electricity margin of over 11% entering this winter, which is sufficient to meet the statutory Reliability Standard.

Flexible Working

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to publish its evaluation of the right to request flexible working.

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to publish its evaluation of shared parental leave.

Kelly Tolhurst: We have started the data collection for the evaluation of both the Shared Parental Leave (and Pay) and the extension of the Right to Request Flexible Working policies. We anticipate being in a position to report on the Shared Parental Leave evaluation in 2019 and the Right to Request Flexible Working in 2020.The Government has set out the largest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. Helping people to balance their work and home lives is vital in creating an inclusive economy where those with caring responsibilities can continue working. That is why in October we announced that we would consult on creating a duty for employers to consider whether a job can be done flexibly, and make that clear when advertising. We also announced that we would consult on requiring employers with more than 250 staff to publish their parental leave and pay policies, so job applicants can make informed decisions about whether they can combine the role with caring for their family.

Public Houses: Codes of Practice

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2019 to Question 211305 on Pubs Code, if he will conduct a public consultation on the review of the Pubs Code.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government is currently considering the format of the statutory review of the Pubs Code but will ensure all those with an interest, including tenants and pub companies, will be able to contribute to the review.

Public Houses: Codes of Practice

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will commission a review of the Pubs Code.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



As required by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will review the operation of the Pubs Code for the period of 21 July 2016 to 31 March 2019. The Government is currently considering the format of the review and will ensure all those with an interest, including tenants and pub companies, have an opportunity to contribute.

Public Houses: Closures

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will review trends in the level of pub closures in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Midlothian.

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to implement a pubs strategy to tackle the closure of pubs.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



The Government does not hold information the information requested.The Government recognises the important role pubs play in local communities. My Rt Hon Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at Autumn Budget 2018 that the Government was freezing beer duties for the second consecutive year as beer makes up close to 50% of pub sales. Many pubs are also benefitting from the business rates retail discount, announced at Budget 2018, which cuts bills by one third for retail properties with a rateable value below £51,000 from April 2019, as well as wider reforms and reductions to business rates.

Minerals: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department monitors the amount of greenhouse gases that are emitted by importing minerals such as (a) clay, (b) chalk, (c) limestone and (d) coal to the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The UK is an Annex I party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC adopted the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/) for Annex I countries in Decision 24/CP.19. The UK is thus required to make use of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines in the compilation of the UK’s greenhouse gas inventory. The guidelines define national greenhouse gas inventories as including only emissions which take place within each country’s territorial boundary. Consequently emissions associated with importing minerals from territories outside the UK are not included.

Fracking

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution to the UK economy of the shale gas industry to date.

Claire Perry: The shale gas industry has the potential to provide the UK with a new domestic energy source, reducing our need for imports, providing more jobs, and contributing to economic growth. However, the industry is at the very early stages of exploration and we do not yet know how much of the UK’s shale resources can be extracted technically or economically and what the contribution to the UK economy could be. We will continue to support responsible companies, working within our stringent regulatory regime, who are prepared to invest in this industry as they proceed with the exploration process, to test the size and value of the potential reserves.

Fracking: Fylde

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the contribution to the economy of Fylde of the shale gas industry to date.

Claire Perry: The Government believes that communities should experience direct benefits from hosting hydraulic fracturing sites in their area. At the exploration stage, £100,000 in community benefits will be provided per well-site when hydraulic fracturing takes place and 1% of revenues at production stage will be paid out to communities. I am pleased to see that these benefits are already being realised from Cuadrilla’s operations in Lancashire. Cuadrilla has spent almost £9million directly with suppliers based in Lancashire, has over 700 local companies registered with its supplier portal and has provided over £200,000 for local sponsorship schemes.

Fracking

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of shale gas extraction on (a) domestic and (b) commercial energy tariffs.

Claire Perry: It is not yet known how much of the UK shale gas resource will ultimately be recoverable, or what rates of extraction, deliverability or reliability could be assumed if shale sources are found to be viable. Therefore the impact on energy tariffs has not been assessed to date. The Government will continue to monitor progress of the shale gas industry and will revise its estimates, as appropriate, as the industry develops.

Public Houses: Codes of Practice

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to conduct a review of the Pubs Code.

Sir David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Pubs Code Adjudicator.

Kelly Tolhurst: As required by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will review the operation of the Pubs Code and the effectiveness of the Pubs Code Adjudicator for the period to 31 March 2019. The Government is currently considering the format of the review and will ensure all those with an interest, including tenants and pub companies, have an opportunity to contribute.

Maternity and Paternity Leave: Childbirth

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2019 to Question 210560, when his Department will publish its review of the provisions for parents of premature babies and sick babies; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The review of provisions for parents of premature, sick and multiple babies is being carried out by officials in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to enable them to provide advice to Ministers. We have no plans to publish this advice but I look forward to discussing the conclusions we reach with interested parties in due course.

Registration of Overseas Entities Bill (Draft)

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timetable is for the publication of the Government's response to the consultation on the draft Registration of Overseas Entities Bill.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government published the draft Registration of Overseas Entities Bill on 23 July 2018. Alongside this, an Overview Document was published which, while providing an overview of the policy and how the register will work, sought views on how the clauses will be implemented in practice. The draft Bill is expected to undergo pre-legislative scrutiny by a joint ad hoc Committee. The Committee will report to Parliament, following which the Government intends to respond to the Committee’s report. The response will reflect the responses to the Overview Document.

Electric Vehicles: Fuel Cells

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to introduce an equivalent to the Faraday challenge for the promotion and further development of hydrogen fuel cell technology for electric vehicles.

Chris Skidmore: Through the Industrial Strategy Future of Mobility Grand Challenge we want to put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of zero emission vehicles. The Government’s Road to Zero Strategy, published in July 2018, outlines a series of measures of support for hydrogen in transport, including a £23m Hydrogen for Transport Programme (HTP) to support an increase in the development and uptake of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles and grow the number of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations.

Volcanoes: Monitoring

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much grant funding has been awarded to the Met Office for volcanic ash weather monitoring in each of the last three years.

Chris Skidmore: No grant funding has been awarded to the Met Office for this purpose in the time period specified. However the Met Office received a £3M grant in 2013 to build, operate and maintain a ground based observing capability (LiDAR network) for the purpose of detecting and measuring volcanic ash. This network become operational in 2017 and continues to be used.The operational costs of this network are funded as part of the aviation services which the Met Office provides on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Equal Pay: Ethnic Groups

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to publish its response to the ethnicity pay gap consultation; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The consultation on ethnicity pay reporting closed on 11 January 2019 and we received over detailed 300 responses. We are currently analysing responses and will publish a response in due course.

Research: Publishing

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to make an economic assessment of the policy options considered by UK Research and Innovation’s review of Open Access policy.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the  Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, what role his Department will play in the review being conducted by UK Research and Innovation on Open Access policy; and whether his Department will be represented on the Open Access Review Steering Group.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding Open Access research.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of Open Access publishing for humanities and social sciences publishing.

Chris Skidmore: Open Access is central to the Government’s and UKRI’s ambitions for research and innovation, with openness being key to world class research and delivering the wider aims of the Industrial Strategy. Sharing knowledge openly has benefits not only for researchers, but also businesses and wider society by accelerating new discoveries. BEIS will be working with UKRI to ensure that overall economic issues are considered as part of the UKRI Open Access Review. The Open Access review will seek to support an economic model where the fair, transparent and reasonable costs of Open Access publishing are met, while addressing the need for sustainability. The review will consider Open Access models and innovations which can help enhance Open Access and assist the sector to more easily comply with UKRI policy. UKRI will lead on consideration of the costs and sustainability of achieving our Open Access aims and BEIS will consider the wider economic implications when policy options are developed in the autumn.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Jamal Khashoggi

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has raised the issue of Jamal Khashoggi with the Saudi Arabian ambassador.

Alistair Burt: I have raised the case of Jamal Khashoggi with the Saudi Ambassador. We are clear that we condemn the killing in the strongest possible terms and that anyone found responsible must be held fully accountable.

Omar Shakir

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January to Question 212311, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of the deportation by Israel of Human Rights Watch country director Omar Shakir on the effectiveness of work to defend human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and if he will again make representations on the case of Mr Shakir to the Israeli authorities.

Alistair Burt: The UK remains concerned about the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We have a regular dialogue with the Government of Israel on the implementation of its obligations under international law. We regularly and robustly raise any concerns about Israeli actions and call upon Israeli Government to fully respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of human rights defenders and organisations and to allow them to freely operate in Israel and OPTs.​

Jerusalem: Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Israeli authorities on the forced eviction of 45 members of the Sabbagh family from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah district of East Jerusalem.

Alistair Burt: We continue to be gravely concerned by the impact of demolitions and evictions on ordinary Palestinians and the viability of a future Palestinian state. Our Ambassador to Israel raised our concerns about evictions in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem with the Israeli authorities on 29 January. On 21 January, our Consul General in Jerusalem and other EU Heads of Mission visited the home of the Sabbagh family. In a follow-up statement, the EU repeated its strong opposition to Israel’s settlement policy and related actions, including evictions and demolitions, and made clear how such measures were illegal under international law and continued to undermine the viability of a two-state solution. In her intervention at the United Nations Security Council’s open debate on the Middle East on 22 January, the UK Permanent Representative to the UN encouraged Israel not to enforce the eviction notice.

Israel: Refugees

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he holds information on the number of refugees that Israel has accepted in the last 10 years.

Alistair Burt: We do not hold that information.​

Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of files held by his Department in relation to Sri Lanka dating from the 1970s and 1980s that (a) have been and (b) are planned to be destroyed.

Mark Field: ​The FCO is unable to collate these estimates of file destruction within the timescale provided without incurring disproportionate cost.The FCO, as with all government departments, reviews all its files in line with the requirements of the Public Records Act before making a decision on permanent preservation. This applies to all files from the 1970s and 1980s relating to Sri Lanka which the FCO has already reviewed under the Act.Selection of such records for permanent preservation took place under the guidance and supervision of The National Archives.The Public Records Act does not require departments to preserve files if they are of no long-term historical value. For instance, the FCO may destroy a file if it only contains administrative or ephemeral content or because it only contains information which is already in the public domain.

Turkey: Kurds

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterparts on the detention and imprisonment of Kurdish politicians.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We have raised the detention of People's Democratic Party (HDP) Members of Parliament, most recently in January regarding the case of Ms Leyla Guven MP. We regularly discuss these issues with the HDP itself. We expect Turkey, as a modern democracy, to undertake legal processes against MPs fairly, transparently and with full respect for the rule of law. We will continue to monitor both the imprisionment of HDP MPs, and the wider Kurdish issue closely.

Abdullah Öcalan

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on Kurdish people on hunger strike throughout the world in protest to the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: Our Embassy in Ankara raised the issue of hunger strikers with the Turkish authorities in mid-January, specifically highlighting our concerns over the case of Ms Leyla Guven MP, who we are pleased to note was recently released from prison. We urge Turkey to uphold the human rights of hunger striking prisoners, including ensuring they have access to medical treatment.

Abdullah Öcalan

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on the prison conditions and isolation of Abdullah Ocalan in Turkey.

Sir Alan Duncan: British Embassy officials discussed Mr Öcalan’s case and the prison conditions with Turkish officials in mid-January. We note the concerns about isolation expressed by the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture in their report following their visit in 2016 to the prison where Mr Öcalan is held.

Religious Freedom

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect religious minorities and religious expression around the world.

Mark Field: ​The Government is deeply concerned about the severity of violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief in many parts of the world. It is a universal human right for all people to be able to practise their faith or belief without fear or discrimination. Freedom of Religion or Belief is an important part of the work done by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We regularly raise issues at ministerial and senior official levels where we have concerns, including the right of Freedom of Religion or Belief at the Human Rights Council.

Christianity

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect the religious expression of Christians around the world.

Mark Field: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is committed to using our influence to defend Freedom of Religion or Belief as a universal human right which should be enjoyed by everyone. The Government is deeply concerned about the severity of violations of Freedom of Religion or Belief in many parts of the world. In recent years we have seen reports of a particular rise in the persecution of Christians. The Foreign Secretary recently asked the Bishop of Truro to conduct an independent global review into the persecution of Christians. The review will provide recommendations on the additional practical steps the FCO can take to support persecuted Christians. The review will provide a report by the summer.

Cabinet Office

Employment: Service Industries

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of jobs are in the service sector in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 66.91 KB)

Employment: Manufacturing Industries

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of jobs are in the manufacturing industry in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 66.91 KB)

Census: Nepal

Leo Docherty: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to include Nepalese as an ethnicity category in the 2021 census.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 177.76 KB)

Employment: Carers and Parents

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of working parents and carers in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 178.92 KB)

Government Departments: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2019 to Question 215097, what the top five consultancy firms were by spend for each of the financial years and figures provided in that Answer.

Oliver Dowden: The requested information is below, based on unaudited total reported spend. 2013/14PA Consulting Group LtdDeloitte LLPPricewaterhouseCoopers LLPMcKinsey & CompanyKPMG LLP 2014/15PA Consulting Group LtdDeloitte LLPMcKinsey & CompanyAWE PlcPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 2015/16PricewaterhouseCoopers LLPMcKinsey & CompanyDeloitte LLPQinetiq Group PlcAdam Smith International Ltd 2016/17Leidos Holdings IncBAE Systems PlcAdam Smith International LtdMcKinsey & CompanyPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 2017/18Leidos Holdings IncBAE Systems PlcLandmarc Support Services LtdQinetiq Group PlcCH2M Hill   Additionally, departments publish spend over £25,000 on a monthly basis as part of its transparency data routine publication, which includes named supplier details.

Interserve

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether officials in his Department were present at the financial rescue talks between Interserve and its lenders.

Oliver Dowden: The Government is a customer of Interserve, not a director or shareholder of the company. This is a matter to be resolved between Interserve and its lenders. No officials were present at the financial rescue talks between Interserve and its lenders.

Baroness Brady

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what official Government posts Baroness Brady holds.

Oliver Dowden: Baroness Brady does not hold any offical government posts.

Department of Health and Social Care

Dermatology: Waiting Lists

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to NHS organisations on reducing waiting times for dermatology treatments.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure dermatology services meet the 95 per cent target of an 18 week waiting time from referral to treatment.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to tackle variations in the 18-week referral to treatment waiting time for dermatology services.

Stephen Hammond: Clinical commissioning groups are putting in place initiatives to help better manage the increasing demand for dermatology services. This has included developing clear multidisciplinary pathways and care models that address patients’ physical and psychological needs, better use of teledermatology as well as a clear model for community dermatology; using nurses, pharmacists and general practitioners with extended roles to ensure that patients receive the right treatment and care in the most appropriate setting. The National Health Service has worked with local sites and published a handbook that describes what local health and care systems can do to transform dermatology elective care services at pace, why this is necessary and how the impact of this transformation can be measured. Practical guidance for implementing and adopting a range of interventions locally is included to help ensure patients see the right person, in the right place, first time. The dermatology handbook can be found on the NHS England website at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/dermatology-elective-care-handbook-v1.pdf

Strokes: Health Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has allocated to the development of a national stroke plan.

Steve Brine: Improving care for people who suffer stroke, and preventing strokes, are priorities for the National Health Service as set out in the recently published NHS Long Term Plan. Building on the learning and success of the previous National Stroke strategy, NHS England will work with partners across the system to lead a programme which will drive the next step change in the care stroke patients receive. As well as significant investment in early cardiovascular disease detection and prevention, this will include funding major increases in the number of patients benefitting from potentially life-changing treatment to dissolve or remove blood clots. Further investment in higher intensity models for stroke rehabilitation will ensure patients have the best chance of returning to employment or independence, experiencing reduced disability and improved support for cognitive and psychological need. Further information on funding will be set out in the implementation framework for the Long Term Plan, due to be published in the spring.

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming workforce implementation plan will include a plan to increase the number of general practitioners.

Steve Brine: The NHS Long Term Plan, published 7 January 2019, sets out a vital strategic framework to ensure that over the next 10 years the National Health Service will have the staff it needs. This included the commitment to deliver a net increase of 5,000 general practitioners (GPs) as soon as possible.The publication of ‘Investment and evolution: A five-year framework for GP contract reform to implement the NHS Long Term Plan’ in January 2019 confirmed that NHS England will now extend a number of general practice programmes for a five year period until 2023/24 to help deliver against this commitment.Further plans to support delivery will be set out in the NHS workforce implementation plan due to be published later this year. This plan will build on the General Practice Forward View to increase the number of doctors working in general practice and will also continue recent provision for a range of other roles.

Abortion

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason NICE in developing its guidelines on termination of pregnancy has not included an assessment of the physical, emotional and economic effect of premature births and their correlation with previous abortions.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason NICE has omitted from its new guidance on termination of pregnancy an assessment of the the long-term effect of abortion on the (a) mortality, (b) future premature births, (c) infertility, (d) mental illness and (e) other health issues of women (i) under 25 and (ii) of other ages.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department referred the topic of termination of pregnancy to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for the development of a guideline on service delivery of termination of pregnancy. NICE, as part of the planning for this guideline explored the views of stakeholders on what would be most useful to focus on through a workshop, meetings and through a scope consultation. The final scope of the termination of pregnancy guideline was based on the input that NICE received from the stakeholders that engaged with NICE. The scope of the termination of pregnancy guideline clearly sets out that the NICE guideline is for women who have already decided to have a termination of pregnancy or have undergone a life-saving termination of pregnancy. NICE is looking at the evidence for common harms such as, haemorrhage and infection where there may be evidence of a difference in long-term outcomes. NICE will also be considering what information women who have requested a termination of pregnancy be given before they have the procedure if the legal grounds are met.

Spina Bifida: Surgery

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether painkiller will be administered to unborn babies with spina bifida who undergo spinal surgery; and at what age those unborn babies will undergo that surgery.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Spinal surgery for spina bifida for babies in the womb is among new, innovative treatments that will be routinely available on the National Health Service for the first time. The procedure for unborn children with spina bifida, whose spine and spinal cord do not develop properly, allows pregnant women to be treated closer to home and their families. Pain relief for the unborn baby will be delivered intra-operatively. This is administered before the fetal surgery, after the uterus is opened. The fetus will be monitored during the procedure by ultrasound to check the fetal heart rate. The surgery takes place between 20 and 26 weeks of gestation. This proposed new treatment was independently assessed for its clinical benefit and cost by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group comprising doctors, health experts and patient representatives.

Abortion

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has commissioned in the last five years into the long-term effect of abortion on (a) future miscarriages, (b) premature births, (c) suicide and (d) other health issues among women (i) under 25 and (ii) of other ages.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health Research. The Department has not commissioned any such studies directly concerned with the long-term effects of abortion. However, a study currently underway, aims to provide the research and practical evidence base to deliver quality improvement in preconception care, to prevent unplanned pregnancies and abortion, and to mitigate the adverse impacts of unplanned pregnancies. This study is due to report in December 2021.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have accessed cannabis-derived medicinal products under schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.

Steve Brine: NHS England has set up systems to monitor the prescribing of cannabis-based products for medicinal use via the NHS Business Services Authority and NHS England Controlled Drugs Accountable Officers. We expect the first data to be available by the end of March 2019.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 213249 on Diabetes: Medical Equipment, what role integrated care systems will play in ensuring that people with diabetes are able to access their preferred glucose meter.

Steve Brine: Integrated care systems (ICSs) are partnerships made of National Health Service organisations, local councils and others to take collective responsibility for managing resources, delivering NHS standards, and improving the health of the population they serve. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are central partners in ICSs. CCGs will continue to be responsible for making commissioning decisions in an ICS. We expect that, working with their partners in an ICS, CCGs will continue to support people with diabetes to access their preferred glucose monitoring device in line with best practice clinical guidance.

NHS: Drugs

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer on 5 February 2019 to Question 213317 on NHS: Drugs, what process NICE plans to follow when scoping its review of its technology appraisal methods in the 2019-20 business year.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer on 5 February 2019 to Question 213317 on NHS: Drugs, how NICE plans to engage with patient organisations as part of its scoping process for its review of its technology appraisal methods in the 2019-20 business year.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is in the process of planning how to conduct its scoping of the review of the methods for technology appraisal. Scoping will involve industry and other relevant stakeholders, including patient organisations, however, these details are still being planned. More information will be made available on the NICE website in due course.

Biosimilar Medicines

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that hospital trusts adhere to (a) shared decision-making principles and (b) patient consent guidance within NHS England's Commissioning framework for biological medicines (including biosimilar medicines) when implementing bio-similar medicine switching programmes.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are taken in cases where guidance within NHS England's Commissioning framework for biological medicines for biological medicines (including biosimilar medicines) is shown not to have been taken and patients are switched to a different medicine without their knowledge or consent.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to ensure that that hospital trusts across the NHS are following shared decision-making principles and patient consent guidance within NHS England's Commissioning framework for biological medicines (including biosimilar medicines) when implementing biosimilar switching programmes.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS document entitled Commissioning framework for biological medicines (including biosimilar medicines), what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that any decision to conduct a switch between biological medicines and biosimilar medicines is done with the approval of a physician and in consultation with patients.

Steve Brine: NHS England has issued guidance around the commissioning of biological medicines and expects clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to give due consideration to this guidance. The framework sets out the importance of developing local policies to support switching patients to biosimilars in line with best practice and where appropriate. The commissioning framework set out policy based on best practice but ultimately CCGs and hospital trusts are accountable for their own local decision making. All National Health Service organisations have a responsibility to encourage a shift in moving to shared decision making, and in ensuring that all patient consultations are done with a focus on shared decision making, and are happening at an individual healthcare professional/patient level. NHS England has also made clear that the decision to prescribe a biological medicine for an individual patient, whether an originator or biosimilar, or to change between the two, rests with the responsible prescriber in consultation with the patient, in line with the principles of shared decision making.

Biosimilar Medicines

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS Improvement is taking to ensure that hospital trusts across the NHS are following shared decision-making principles and patient consent guidance within NHS England's Commissioning framework for biological medicines (including biosimilar medicines) when implementing biosimilar switching programmes.

Steve Brine: NHS Improvement does not monitor use of shared decision making. It instead monitors uptake of the biosimilars as against the original – usually patented – medicines. It does, however, hold a joint role in supporting the National Health Service to use the best value biologic medicine which is part of a long standing programme of work connected to the NHS Biosimilar Medicines Programme Board, the NHS England Medicines Value Programme and the NHS Improvement Top 10 Medicines remit. The biosimilars medicines programme board is intended to ensure appropriate use of biosimilar medicines across the NHS in England. This includes shared decision making and patient consent and the board has produced guidance which sets out the importance of shared decision making which is fully endorsed by patient groups.

NHS: Vacancies

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 30 January 2019 to Question 214461, what comparative estimate his Department has made of cost of filing 80 per cent of nursing and 85 per cent of medical vacancies with (a) the bank and agency staff and (b) permanent staff members.

Stephen Hammond: We do not currently have clear estimates of the comparative cost of filling National Health Service vacancies with permanent rather than bank and agency staff. However, we do recognise that the cost of meeting the current level of staff shortages through bank and agency is greater than if those vacancies were filled by permanent staff. This is why we are working hard to boost NHS recruitment and reduce reliance on expensive agency workers. The Department has provided a 25% increase in funding available for training places for doctors and nurses from September 2018. There are currently over 52,000 nurses in undergraduate training, over 30,000 doctors in undergraduate training, and over 50,000 doctors in foundation and specialty postgraduate medical training. The Department is continuing to work closely with universities and stakeholders to ensure the uptake of additional training places. We are also working with NHS Improvement to implement a number of measures to reduce agency expenditure and ensure that trusts have effective and efficient banks. As a result of this work, total agency expenditure across NHS trusts in England has fallen from a peak of £3.6 billion in 2015/16 to £2.4 billion in 2017/18 – a £1.2 billion reduction.

Vaccination

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his policy paper Tackling antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024: the UK's 5-year national action plan, if he will amend the code of practice for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to require that Committee to assess the effect on the level of anti-microbial resistance of (a) a new, (b) major changes to and (c) the discontinuation of an immunisation programme.

Steve Brine: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI’s) terms of reference is to advise the United Kingdom health departments on immunisations for the prevention of infections and/or disease following due consideration of the evidence on the burden of disease, on vaccine safety and efficacy and on the impact and cost effectiveness of immunisation strategies.JCVI is aware that vaccination has an important role in controlling antimicrobial resistance. As most resistant infections are healthcare associated, the new JCVI Healthcare Associated Infections Working Group, set up to review and provide preliminary advice to JCVI on the potential use of appropriate vaccines in the UK, will help to address this issue.

Nurses: Recruitment

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2019 to Question 214460 on Nurses: training and with reference to NHS Digital data showing 33,500 nurses left the NHS in 2016-17, what steps his Department is taking to increase the recruitment and retention of nurses.

Stephen Hammond: The National Health Service employs more staff now than at any other time in its 70 year history. There are currently 16,100 more nurses on wards in England than in 2010, with a further 52,000 undergraduates in training. The latest University and College Admissions Service data shows that applications for full-time undergraduate nursing and midwifery courses has increased by 4.5% on last year. We also announced additional clinical placement funding to support 5,000 more training places each year from September 2018. The Government has put in place a range of measures to increase nursing workforce supply, including a new route in to nursing through a Nurse Degree and Nursing Associate apprenticeships. National programmes led by NHS Improvement, NHS Employers and Health Education England are focused on improving staff retention, increasing the number of nurses returning to practice, increasing overseas recruitment and improving sickness absence. Around 1 million NHS workers will benefit from the new Agenda for Change pay and contract reform deal. The deal includes important changes to pay and non-pay benefits to help support recruitment and retention and boost productivity in return for additional pay investment.

Pharmacy: Finance

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to provide community pharmacies with a multi-year funding settlement.

Steve Brine: The Department expects to begin negotiations on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee shortly. The length of any settlement will form part of those negotiations.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to achieve the 95 per cent four-hour A&E waiting time in (a) Herefordshire and (b) England.

Stephen Hammond: Wye Valley NHS Trust is taking several steps to improve accident and emergency performance in its locality. The Trust received £3.6 million capital funding in 2018 to create a modular build 24 bedded ward – increasing its overall bed base capacity to 246. The Trust has also established a ‘front-door frailty service’ within the Emergency Department to support patients outside of hospital admissions where clinically appropriate. In addition, the Trust is currently recruiting to additional clinical staff within the Emergency Department, including consultant posts across medical specialities to deliver robust seven-day working. Nationally, NHS England’s ‘Operational and Planning Guidance for 2019/20’ sets out deliverables against key performance areas and the Government expects the National Health Service to deliver these actions in full as key steps towards fully recovering performance against core access standards. The NHS Long Term Plan, launched by the NHS on 7 January 2018, will transform urgent and emergency care. The plan is supported by a £20.5 billion real terms investment by 2023/24. The Government has also supported the NHS with an additional £1.6 billion for 2018/19 to improve emergency and elective performance. In addition, more than £420 million has been provided specifically for this winter.

Mental Health: Social Media

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the effect of social media on the mental health of young people.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government recognises that social media can be a force for good, supporting education and helping people make positive connections with other people. However, as with most innovations, the Government is committed to taking action to ensure the risks of social media, particularly on the mental health of young people. On 7 February, the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers published their independent systematic map of evidence on screen and social media use in children and young people. They also published advice for parents and carers, giving tips on how to have a healthy balance with screen time. This is based on evidence around activities that are important for healthy child development such as sleep, exercise and education. We want the UK to be the safest place to be online. The Government wants to work with internet and social media providers to achieve this, and we are clear we will take tougher action were needed. The Department of Health and Social Care has been working closely alongside colleagues at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on their upcoming Online Harms White Paper. This White Paper will set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures detailing how the Government will tackle online harms and set clear responsibilities for tech companies to keep UK citizens safe.

Abortion: Foreign Nationals

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many free abortions were performed on the NHS for citizens from (a) other EU countries and (b) non-EU countries under reciprocal healthcare arrangements in each of the last five years.

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of providing free abortions on the NHS for citizens from (a) other EU countries and (b) non-EU countries under reciprocal healthcare arrangements in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Abortions provided to women from other European Union countries and non-EU countries are funded privately. The European Health Insurance Card cannot be used for an abortion, unless it is an urgent matter which cannot wait until the person can return home.

Bereavement Counselling

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the future roll-out of the National Bereavement Care Pathway; and whether he plans to expand that roll-out.

Jackie Doyle-Price: All bereaved parents, following baby loss, should be offered the same high standard of care and support in an appropriate environment. The Government committed full funding of over £100,000 for the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity (Sands) to continue the roll-out of the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) in 2018/19. This builds upon £50,000 of start-up funding. This funding has enabled Sands to actively support 32 NHS trusts and foundation trusts to implement the NBCP over the past two years. An evaluation of Wave 1 implementation found that 94% of parents who received bereavement care in the period the NBCP was used felt that all staff could provide a consistently high level of care and 98% felt they were treated with respect. We would encourage all services caring for parents who experience baby loss to adopt the NBCP. Care providers can access all of the NBCP standards, pathway materials and training resources via the following link: http://www.nbcpathway.org.uk The Department’s Business Planning process takes place annually. Expenditure, including any awards made through grant funding, cannot be confirmed until the Business Planning process has been concluded and budgets for the relevant financial year approved.

Autism

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support local authorities and hospitals providing support to people with autism.

Caroline Dinenage: The NHS Long Term Plan was published on 7 January 2019. The Plan has a renewed focus on supporting people with learning disabilities, autism or both by improving diagnostic pathways, reducing over-prescribing of medicines, and by ensuring people have access to high-quality care and support in the community. The fifth local authority autism self-assessment exercise opened in September 2018 and closed in December 2018. The data received is currently being analysed by Public Health England and a report will be published shortly. Work is underway by Health Education England to develop an Autism Core Skills and Competency Framework for health and care staff, and staff in organisations with public facing responsibilities. The aim is for the Framework to be completed by July 2019. On 13 February, we began a consultation on proposals for mandatory learning disability and autism training for staff in health and social care, to ensure staff have the right skills to support people who may need reasonable adjustments made to allow them to access care. NHS England and NHS Digital are strengthening accessibility through a reasonable adjustment ‘flagging’ project, which will provide a flag on the Summary Care Record to indicate the support needs and associated reasonable adjustments that an individual requires. The NHS Long Term Plan commits that by 2023/24 this will be used in patient records.

Vasa Praevia: Screening

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce routine screening in pregnancy for Vasa Praevia.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There are currently no plans to introduce routine screening in pregnancy for vasa praevia. The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed antenatal screening for vasa praevia in 2017 and recommended that a population screening programme for vasa praevia should not be offered. This is because there is not enough evidence to suggest that screening every pregnancy for vasa praevia would provide more benefit than harm. Due to the uncertainty of whether screening all women is the best approach or whether it would be better to test smaller groups of women whose pregnancies are known to be at higher risk of vasa praevia, the UK NSC convened a multidisciplinary group to model the potential impact of some vasa praevia detection strategies. This work will be completed in spring 2019. The UK NSC will review the evidence for vasa praevia in 2020/21 or earlier in light of new published peer reviewed evidence.

Care Homes: Operating Costs

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the level of inflation on the cost of providing services in nursing homes.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government took account of inflationary pressures, including any effects on the cost of providing nursing care, in determining the overall settlement for adult social care at the last Spending Review in 2015.

Occupational Health

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the UK population has access to occupational health services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: In 2014, 51% of employees in Great Britain reported having access to occupational health services. For information, an occupational health service provides advice and practical support about how to stay healthy in the workplace and how to manage health conditions. For example, access to health care professions, or support or advice for making workplace adjustments. Employees are not strictly defined but are Great Britain employees aged 16 and over.

Occupational Health: Recruitment

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of occupational health practitioners.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government’s November 2017 Command Paper ‘Improving lives: the future of work, health and disability’ set out a vision for the reform of occupational health and recognised the critical role of occupational health and other related professions in delivering this. In line with the commitments in the Command Paper, an Occupational Health Expert Group was appointed to support work in this area. This has included looking at the occupational health workforce to ensure sufficient expert capacity is available in the future. Health Education England, through its National School of Occupational Health, has also been involved in this work. Ministers have announced their intention to consult on measures to improve access to high quality occupational health later this year.

Antibiotics

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to secure the supply of antibiotics in the event of the UK without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: We understand that antibiotics are vitally important to many people in this country. Our contingency plans include sensible mitigations for medicines that come to the United Kingdom from or via the European Union to ensure that the supply of antibiotics and other essential medicines for patients is not disrupted. In August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply prescription-only and pharmacy medicines, including antibiotics, to the UK that come from, or via, the EU/European Economic Area (EEA) asking them to ensure a minimum of six weeks’ additional supply in the UK, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019. We recognise, however, that certain medicines cannot be reasonably stockpiled. Where these medicines are imported from the EU or EEA, we have asked that suppliers ensure in advance plans to air freight these medicines from the EU in the event of a ‘no deal’ exit. On 7 December, the Government published updated reasonable worst-case scenario border disruption planning assumptions in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit. Medicines and medical products are prioritised in cross-Government planning, and the Department is working with relevant partners across Government and industry to ensure we have sufficient roll-on, roll-off freight capacity on alternative routes to enable these vital products to continue to move freely into the UK. Throughout enacting our plans, we have received very good engagement from industry who share our aims of ensuring that the continuity of supply of medicines and medical products for patients is maintained and able to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many officials from his Department have been seconded from their primary role to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: As at 11 February 2019, the Department has a central team of 70 policy and project delivery professionals which coordinates the provision of advice to Ministers on European Union exit and preparations for exit. Since the beginning of December 2018, 25 people have transferred into the central team to support this work. Across the Department, staff are also working on a range of areas related to EU exit, covering issues such as medicines supply. Communications, analytical and legal staff provide advice as required. This work is kept under review, to manage the level of resource support that may be needed at any given time. The Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU exit implementation is carried out to a high standard without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Medical Treatments

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking in response to the resolution of the House of 24 January 2019 on appropriate ME treatment.

Steve Brine: The Government is investing over £1.7 billion a year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). Since 2011, the MRC has funded seven research projects totalling £2.62 million, following a call for proposals to help increase the understanding of the mechanisms of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). CFS/ME research remains an area of high strategic importance for the MRC. Applications are encouraged in response to MRC’s Science Boards and Panels under a Cross-Board highlight notice, in place since 2003 and updated in 2011. On 20 September 2017, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) announced its decision to undertake a full update of the guideline, ‘Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy): Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children’, following a review of the latest available evidence on the diagnosis and management of CFS/ME and a public consultation. New guidance is expected in October 2020. More information on this decision can be found at the following link: www.nice.org.uk/news/article/nice-to-begin-review-of-its-guidance-on-the-diagnosis-and-treatment-of-cfs-me In terms of training, the General Medical Council sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours that new United Kingdom medical graduates must be able to demonstrate and Royal Medical Colleges, such as the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) set the standards for postgraduate medical education in general practice. General practice is where most patients with CFS/ME are likely to be managed, and the condition is identified as a key area of clinical knowledge in the RCGP Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) content guide. The AKT is a summative assessment of the knowledge base that underpins general practice in the United Kingdom within the context of the NHS and is a key part of GPs’ qualifying exams. Finally, regarding concerns about the wellbeing of children; we recognise that chronic medical conditions, such as ME, can put a strain on the child and their family. Whilst the Department for Education would want to avoid action that would add to the strain, it is right that children’s services should be prepared to assess the needs of children who may be at risk. It is important that the assessment of a child is conducted on a multi-agency basis, and takes account of any medical condition the child may have. In July 2018, the Department for Education published an updated version of its statutory safeguarding guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’. This includes guidance on how assessments should be conducted, and sets out new local multi-agency procedures. Health services are one of the core local safeguarding partners.

UK Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostics Collaborative

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) representations his Department has received on the work of the UK Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Diagnostics Collaborative and (b) discussions have taken place between his Department and members of that group; what the timetable is for the publication of the AMR Diagnostics Collaborative's report; and (c) if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: Over the last five years, implementation of the United Kingdom antimicrobial resistance (AMR) strategy has been overseen and driven by a cross-Government High Level Steering Group, chaired by the Chief Medical Officer for England. Professor Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England, leads work to deliver the Government’s ambitions for diagnostics as part of the strategy. NHS England established the UK AMR Diagnostics Collaborative to support delivery of the United Kingdom’s diagnostics ambitions for AMR. The Collaborative has played a valuable role in developing the diagnostics elements of the new UK five-year national action plan on AMR, published in January this year. The Department continues to work closely with the UK AMR Diagnostics Collaborative, which currently has no plans to publish a report.

Drugs: Death

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the findings of the National Aids Trust report, Drug-Related Deaths in England, published by the National Aids Trust, published on 5 February 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: No formal assessment has been made of the National AIDS Trust report however officials will consider its findings in the development of future drugs policy. The Government is concerned by the number of drug-related deaths and is supporting local areas to develop a more joined up approach to commissioning and delivering the range of services that are essential to supporting recovery and preventing drug-related deaths.

NHS: Drugs

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the proposed amendments to the Human Medicines Regulation 2012, what treatment areas will be excluded from the serious shortage protocol for reasons of patient safety; and if he will publish a list of medicines and formulations that will be excluded as a result.

Steve Brine: A Serious Shortage Protocol is an additional tool to manage and mitigate medication shortages and may be used in the exceptional and rare situation when other measures have been exhausted or are likely to be ineffective.As the explanatory memorandum of the amending Statutory Instrument acknowledges, protocols for therapeutic or generic equivalents will not be suitable for all medicines and patients. For example, such protocols would not be suitable for medicines that need to be prescribed by brand for clinical reasons, such as biological medicines. In these cases, patients would always be referred to the prescriber for any decision about their treatment before any therapeutic or generic alternative is supplied.

NHS: Drugs

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulation 2019, what the system will be by which clinicians will be able to indicate whether or not an alternative (a) quantity, (b) strength, and (c) pharmaceutical form of medicine can be dispensed in line with the protocol; and how this system will be applied to regular repeat prescriptions.

Steve Brine: A Serious Shortage Protocol is an additional tool to manage and mitigate medication shortages and may be used in the exceptional and rare situation when other measures have been exhausted or are likely to be ineffective. It can only be issued by Ministers and would only be introduced in the case of a serious shortage, if it would help manage the supply situation and if clinicians think it is appropriate, after discussion with the manufacturer and/or marketing authorisation holder. Any protocol would need to set out what alternative quantity, pharmaceutical form, strength, therapeutic equivalent or generic equivalent can be supplied. Supply in accordance with a protocol can only be made if the protocol is in date when a prescription is presented for dispensing, whether that prescription is an acute or a repeat prescription. If appropriate, the protocol could stipulate that it does not apply to a certain type of prescription.

Pharmacy: Public Health

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of nationally commissioning more public health services through community pharmacy.

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list each pharmacy in receipt of funding from the Pharmacy Access Scheme in each year since the establishment of that scheme.

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and proportion of pharmacy funding has been spent on (a) dispensing and (b) enhanced services in each year since 2015-16.

Sir Kevin Barron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to (a) increase medicines adherence for repeat prescriptions and (b) reduce medicines wastage from repeat prescriptions.

Steve Brine: The Government has been clear that it wants to change the focus of the health and care system onto prevention and Ministers have also set out an ambition for local pharmacies to play a stronger role in helping people stay well in the community. The Department has committed to publishing a Green Paper on prevention that will set out how these plans will be achieved in more detail. An assessment specifically focusing on the potential merits of nationally commissioning more public health services through community pharmacy has not been undertaken.An updated list of the 1,413 pharmacies found to be eligible for the pharmacy access scheme was published in January 2018, this is publicly available and can be found at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/670305/PhAS_List_20122017_updated.pdfA small proportion of the pharmacies eligible for the scheme will not receive a payment because they do not meet the payment criteria as set out in the Drug Tariff. This means their income in 2016/17 is greater than their 2015/16 income less a 1% efficiency saving, and/or their estimated income in 2017/18 and 2018/19 is greater than their 2015/16 income less a 3% efficiency saving. The number and proportion of pharmacies on the scheme in receipt of a payment, for each year that the scheme has been running, is set out in the following table. Total number of eligible pharmaciesTotal number of pharmacies receiving zero paymentsTotal number of pharmacies in receipt of payment2016/171,40247 (3%)1,355 (97%)2017/181,415[1]57 (4%)1,358 (96%)[1]Two additional pharmacies have been accepted on to the scheme since the publication of the updated list. This explains the difference in the figures of 1,413 and 1,415 for 2017/18.The fees and allowances paid under the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) for the provision of essential services, including dispensing, provided by community pharmacies each year from April 2015 to March 2018 are detailed in the following table, based on data provided by NHS England. The structure of fees and allowances does not allow payments just for dispensing to be isolated. These payments do not include the medicine margin that community pharmacies earn as part of the payment for essential services, which is paid through reimbursement within the drugs’ bill.Enhanced services are locally commissioned. As such they are funded outside of the national CPCF and the Department does not hold the information sought.Time periodTotal essential services funding2 /£Total national CPCF funding (essential and advanced services) less medicines margin/ £Funding for essential services as a proportion of total national CPCF funding (essential and advanced services) less medicines margin/ %2015/161,881,828,1492,000,000,000942016/171,769,216,5861,887,000,000942017/181,668,141,5831,792,000,000932This comprises the fees and allowances paid under Part IIIA: Professional Fees (Pharmacy Contractors) and Part VIA: Payment for Essential Services (Pharmacy Contractors) of the Drug Tariff, and through the Quality Payment Scheme and Pharmacy Access Scheme. This does not include medicines margin.Within the NHS Long Term Plan, Government has committed to expanding the number of pharmacists in Primary Care Networks. These pharmacists are well placed to work alongside the wider medical team to optimise the use of medicines, promote medicines adherence and improve the clinical and cost effectiveness of prescribed medications. Identifying and supporting patients on complex polypharmacy and those with long term conditions necessitating repeat prescriptions will form an important part of their role. Alongside this, in August 2018, NHS England, announced plans for a new pilot scheme, with investment of £1 million from the Pharmacy Integration Fund to develop system leadership within pharmacy across all settings. These pharmacy leaders will set the vision to systematically tackle medicines optimisation priorities for the local population within GP Network and Integrated Care System foot prints, further supporting medicines adherence, and in turn reducing medicines wastage.

Preventive Medicine

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish the prevention green paper.

Steve Brine: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss MP) on 16 January to Question 206879.

NHS: Drugs

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when each of the NICE methodology reviews for STA and HST are planned (a) to begin, (b) to be consulted upon and (c) to have the findings reported.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is in the process of planning how to conduct its scoping of the review of the methods for technology appraisal and highly specialised technologies evaluations. Scoping will involve industry and other relevant stakeholders, including patient organisations and is timetabled in the 2019/20 business year. Additional detail and more information will be made available on the NICE website in due course.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of risk-stratified screening for breast cancer.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has recently closed its three month public consultation on risk stratification to offer additional breast screening with ultrasound after a negative mammography in women with dense breasts.The UK NSC will convene at the end of the month to review comments from this consultation and will advise accordingly. Minutes of the meeting are usually published six weeks after its meeting and will be made available on the UK NSC website at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-national-screening-committee-uk-nsc

Radiology: Recruitment

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming NHS workforce implementation plan will include a plan to increase the numbers of NHS diagnostic radiographers.

Steve Brine: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned Baroness Dido Harding Chair of NHS Improvement, working closely with Sir David Behan, Chair of Health Education England, to lead a number of programmes to engage with key National Health Service interests to develop a detailed workforce implementation plan. This programme of work will consider detailed proposals to grow the workforce, including consideration of the additional staff and skills required to deliver round the clock high quality care. Baroness Harding and Sir David Behan will present initial recommendations to the Department in spring 2019. A final workforce implementation plan will follow later in the year, taking into account the outcomes of the Spending Review. Universities consistently continue to recruit students onto undergraduate diagnostic radiography university courses in England, with acceptances onto courses increasing every year since 2014. The latest NHS Digital data shows that as at October 2018 there are 3,084 more full time equivalent diagnostic radiographers in the NHS than there were in May 2010. Diagnostic radiographer education and training and recruitment in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland is a matter for the devolved governments in each nation.

Housing: Heating

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of National Energy Action's report entitled,  Cold homes claiming needless lives and costing every local Health and Wellbeing Board in England over £27,000 each day, published in February 2016.

Jackie Doyle-Price: No assessment has been made of the implications for public health policies of the National Energy Action report of February 2016 ‘Cold homes claiming needless lives and costing every local Health and Wellbeing Board in England over £27,000 each day’. Public Health England is working with local authorities, the National Health Service, the Commission for Fuel Poverty and with other Government departments to try to address the health impacts of those living in fuel poverty and cold homes.

Lymphoedema: Health Services

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the accessibility of services for treating lymphoedema in (a) the North East and (b) England.

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve early diagnosis of lymphoedema.

Steve Brine: No specific assessment of the availability of lymphoedema services has been made. The commissioning of services for the treatment and care of lymphoedema patients is a local matter.People with lymphoedema can usually be managed through routine access to primary or secondary care services. A range of guidance is available for the diagnosis, treatment and care for people with lymphoedema. This includes an international consensus document on best practice and guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.Further information can be found at the following links:www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg588www.woundsinternational.com/resources/details/bioimpedance-analysis-in-the-assessment-of-lymphoedema-diagnosis-and-management

Emigration: Children

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to develop a communication strategy to help publicise the Government's ex gratia payment scheme for former British child migrants.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the methodology that was used to calculate the £20,000 figure payable to those eligible for redress under the Government's ex gratia payment scheme for child migrants.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what budget his Department has allocated to the Government's ex gratia payment scheme for former British child migrants.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons claimants who were accompanied by an adult family member on their journey to receiving countries are ineligible for payment under the Government's ex gratia payment scheme for former British Child Migrants.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On 19 December the Government published its response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Interim Report and its report on Child Migration Programmes. The response states that the Government will establish an ex-gratia payment scheme and will ensure that former child migrants receive a payment as soon as possible, in recognition of the fundamentally flawed nature of the historic child migration policy. Further details were provided at the end of January on the Child Migrants Trust website. The figure of £20,000 has been set using the methodology of the Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, which recommended a payment of £20,000 for former child migrants sent from Northern Ireland as part of the Child Migrant Programmes. This is to ensure fairness between former child migrants sent from different parts of the United Kingdom. We have coordinated communications about the payment scheme with the Child Migrants Trust and the International Association of former Child Migrants and their Families. We have also publicised the scheme through High Commissions in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Zimbabwe. The ex-gratia payment will be £20,000 for each former British child migrant and we anticipate that about 2000 former British child migrants will be eligible. Through the business planning process, the Government will ensure that there is sufficient funding to support the scheme based on the current estimates of payments and demand. The scheme is open to any former British child migrant who was alive on 1 March 2018, or the beneficiaries of any former British child migrant who was alive on 1 March 2018 and has since passed away. The payments are being made in respect of the harm done to former British child migrants in being separated from their families and sent overseas as part of the UK Government’s historic participation in child migration programmes. Children who went overseas with their parents or guardians, or were sent overseas by their parents or guardians, are clearly in a different category: they were not the responsibility of local authorities or Government organisations in the United Kingdom and their parents or guardians made the arrangements voluntarily.

Endoscopy: Recruitment

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical endoscopists have been recruited to date as part of Health Education England’s target to recruit and train an additional 400 clinical endoscopists.

Steve Brine: To address the increasing demand for endoscopy services, Health Education England (HEE) has worked with the Joint Advisory Committee on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy to develop a clinical endoscopist training programme. HEE has been mandated to have 200 clinical endoscopists trained or in training by December 2018 and within the Cancer Workforce Plan committed to train a further 200, and therefore a total of 400 clinical endoscopists by 2021. There are currently 202 clinical endoscopists who have either completed their training or are currently in training. The trajectory to have 200 clinical endoscopists trained or in training by December 2018 has been achieved. HEE is currently recruiting for the April 2019 cohort and working towards the target of 400 clinical endoscopists trained or in training by the end of 2021.

Secure Psychiatric Units: Autism and Learning Disability

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with (a) autism and (b) learning disabilities are being held in secure hospital units in England.

Caroline Dinenage: The Assuring Transformation (AT) dataset provides data on the numbers of people with learning disability and/or autism receiving inpatient care commissioned by the National Health Service in England. The following table shows patient numbers in secure units by diagnosis, with data taken from the most recent AT publication which uses December 2018 data. Patients by diagnosis as of December 2018 Number of patientsLearning disability only655Autism only245Learning disability and autism210None of the above10Total1,120Source: Learning Disability Services Monthly Statistics - Data from the Assuring Transformation Collection, December 2018 (NHS Digital)

HIV Infection: Drugs

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the interim data for the PrEP impact trial will be placed in the public domain.

Steve Brine: Decisions on when data will be released from the pre-exposure prophylaxis impact trial will be available shortly. Full results from the trial are expected to be available in early 2021.

Arthritis: Drugs

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the supply of medications for rheumatoid arthritis in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) protect patients and (b) ensure pharmaceutical companies have a minimum of six weeks’ additional supply of vital medications over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: Our number one priority is to ensure patients continue to have unhindered access to medicines as we exit the European Union and we are working with all sectors in the supply chain to ensure this happens. We understand that medicines for rheumatoid arthritis are vitally important to many people in this country. Our ‘no deal’ medicines supply contingency plans include sensible mitigations for medicines that come to the United Kingdom from or via the EU/European Economic Area (EEA) to ensure that the supply of essential medicines, including medicines for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, is not disrupted. In August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply prescription-only and pharmacy medicines, including those for rheumatoid arthritis, to the UK that come from, or via, the EU/EEA asking them to ensure a minimum of six weeks’ additional supply in the UK, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019. On 7 December, the Government published updated reasonable worst-case scenario border disruption planning assumptions in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit. Medicines and medical products are prioritised in cross-Government planning, and the Department is working with relevant partners across Government and industry to ensure we have sufficient roll-on, roll-off freight capacity on alternative routes to enable these vital products to continue to move freely into the UK. Throughout enacting our plans, we have received very good engagement from industry, including on their plans to stockpile medicines. They share our aims of ensuring that the continuity of supply of medicines and medical products for patients is maintained and able to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit.

NHS: Drugs

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the compliance of the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2019 with the NHS England Commissioning Framework for Biological Medicines in relation to switching medicines without consulting patients.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support pharmaceutical staff in (a) making a decision to ration medicines to avoid extreme shortages and (b) changing prescriptions as a result of shortages without consulting a GP in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Steve Brine: No assessment has been made. However, the explanatory memorandum of the amending Statutory Instrument acknowledges that protocols for therapeutic or generic equivalents will not be suitable for all medicines and patients. For example, such protocols would not be suitable for medicines that need to be prescribed by brand for clinical reasons, such as biological medicines. In these cases, patients would always be referred to the prescriber for any decision about their treatment before any therapeutic or generic alternative is supplied. The Serious Shortage Protocol provisions in the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2019 enable Ministers, in exceptional circumstances, to issue a protocol that enables retail pharmacies to dispense in line with a protocol for a specific prescription only medicine rather than against a prescription, without going back to the prescriber. Any protocol would need to set out what alternative quantity, pharmaceutical form, strength, therapeutic equivalent or generic equivalent can be supplied in what circumstances.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which EU agencies his Department plans to seek continued membership of after the UK has left the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: During the Implementation Period, the terms of the United Kingdom’s participation in European Union agencies and bodies will be as set out in Article 128 of the Withdrawal Agreement. Following our exit from the EU, we are committed to maintaining a close and collaborative relationship with the EU. Our future partnership is a matter for the next phase of negotiations and we look forward to constructive discussions with the EU.

Department for International Development

Overseas Trade

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether he is taking steps to support a global initiative of Governments and businesses to ensure that workers in (a) cocoa and (b) other supply chains receive a living income; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: One of the keys to driving poverty reduction is enabling workers in global supply chains to be paid a living wage. The UK works with Governments, businesses and other actors to advance this agenda. For example, the Department for International Development (DFID) supports the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), which works with companies such as the Body Shop, Co-op and Tesco, as well as trade unions. The UK also supports initiatives such as the UN Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest business sustainability initiative, which focuses partly on labour rights and has over 12,000 signatories from over 160 countries.

Overseas Trade

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether he plans to incorporate living income as defined by the Living Income Community of Practice into the Government’s business and human rights policies; and what steps he will take to incorporate fair prices into his policies to deliver improved human rights in supply chains.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development (DFID) is a long-term supporter of the ISEAL Alliance, the umbrella organisation for standards systems such as Fairtrade and one of the founding members of the Living Income Community of Practice. We support efforts that work towards a living income in global supply chains. The UK was the first country to produce a National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, demonstrating a high level of commitment that will feed into any future trade policy. We are committed to upholding the UK’s values, including around labour standards, and will consider the full range of mechanisms available in the design of future trade and investment agreements.

Overseas Aid

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department’s Official Development Assistance is delivered through local and national partners.

Harriett Baldwin: UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) data is collected and reported according to a standard international classification produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). According to this classification eleven percent of DFID’s bilateral ODA was channelled through UK or other donor country-based NGOs in 2017, the latest published year of ODA statistics. Data that disaggregates other delivery partners - such as private sector institutions and research institutions - into local and national are not produced in the ODA statistics.

Department for International Development: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many officials from her Department have been seconded from their primary role to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if she will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID has deployed 26 employees on short-term loan to other government departments and fewer than 10 staff internally to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU, with or without a deal.

Colombia: Humanitarian Aid

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to provide humanitarian aid to Colombia to assist with the Venezuelan refugees that reside there.

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to provide humanitarian aid to Peru to assist with the Venezuelan refugees that currently reside there.

Alistair Burt: Venezuelan migrants and refugees are facing food insecurity and poverty, in addition to serious protections risks. Regional governments should be commended for their efforts to meet the needs of Venezuelans crossing the border, but the crisis is putting huge strain on services in host nations. The Secretary of State has announced an emergency aid package of £6.5 million to respond to the most severe health and nutrition needs by providing life-saving treatment for malnourished children and access to clean water and sanitation. Additionally, DFID has deployed two humanitarian advisors to the region and funded seven additional roles within UN agencies to help respond to the crisis. We provide significant core funding to the UN, Red Cross movement and other international actors to alleviate the worsening humanitarian situation.

Venezuela: Refugees

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to provide assistance to the proposed vaccination programme for Venezuelan refugees across Latin America.

Alistair Burt: The Venezuelan health system has collapsed, formerly controlled preventable diseases need to be controlled and this is leading to further outbreaks within neighbouring countries. The UK has stepped up and has announced an emergency aid package of £6.5 million to respond to the most severe health needs by providing immunisations against deadly diseases, supporting emergency rooms and ensuring that people who are fleeing their homes have access to crucial support, including through the provision of mobile health clinics. Additionally, DFID has deployed two humanitarian advisors to the region and funded seven additional roles within UN agencies to help respond to the crisis. We provide significant core funding to the UN, Red Cross movement and other international actors to alleviate the worsening humanitarian situation. The UK’s core funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is helping to address health needs in the region.

Bangladesh: Clothing

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department funds aid programmes that support female garment factory workers in Bangladesh.

Alistair Burt: The UK supports garment factory workers, more than 70% of whom are female, by improving building safety and working conditions, empowering workers, and urging buyers to take responsibility for their supply chains. DFID provided £7.4m (2013-2017) to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to improve factory conditions post Rana Plaza collapse. The subsequent ‘Better Jobs in Bangladesh’ programme provides £6.6m (2017-2023) for sustainable inspection and remediation. The UK is also providing £22.43m (2014-2021) to enhance the provision of skills training in the RMG and Construction sectors. This is helping female workers enter higher paid jobs in the sector.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of the conflict in Yemen on the (a) health and (b) protection from violence of women and girls in that country.

Alistair Burt: Yemen remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with nearly 80% of the population, 24 million people, now in need of humanitarian assistance. This includes 1.1 million acutely malnourished pregnant or lactating women. The conflict in Yemen has only served to exacerbate the specific vulnerabilities and the limitations faced by women and girls across the country, with the number of incidents of gender-based violence reportedly rising by 70% since the start of the conflict. The country ranks last out of 144 countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index; women and girls continue to face entrenched gender inequalities that limit their access to services, livelihoods and other opportunities.

Developing Countries: Education

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which (a) for-profit private companies and (b) private contractors received Official Development Assistance for the (i) delivery of education and (ii) facilitation of education programmes in (A) Ethiopia, (B) Tanzania, (C) Afghanistan, (D) Ghana and (E) Uganda  in each year from 2015 to 2018.

Penny Mordaunt: The table below sets out centrally let contracts with (a) for-profit private companies and (b) private contractors in the last three years (2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 YTD) for education programmes in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Afghanistan, Ghana and Uganda.  Spend against Centrally Let PCD ContractsBenefitting CountrySupplier NameSupplier TypeAfghanistan (AF)Ethiopia (ET)Ghana (GH)Tanzania (TZ)Uganda (UG)AECOM Professional ServicesPrivate£0£0£0£751,794£0Crown AgentsPrivate£0£0£2,130,753£262,501£0DAI EuropePrivate£0£0£1,006,213£0£0IMC Worldwide LimitedPrivate£0£123,131£899,885£0£0IPE Global LimitedPrivate£0£158,492£0£0£0MAXWELL STAMP PLCPrivate£0£2,299,198£0£0£0MOTT MACDONALD LTDPrivate£0£0£13,543,195£32,825,490£6,212,154OXFORD POLICY MANAGEMENTPrivate£0£0£0£822,536£0PALLADIUMPrivate£0£0£0£8,311,104£0 £0£2,580,822£17,580,045£42,973,426£6,212,154

Developing Countries: Schools

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to oral evidence by the Minister of State at the Department for International Development to the International Development Committee on DFID's work on education: Leaving no one behind, HC 367, on 18 October 2017, what methodology was used to establish that 95 per cent of his Department's education funding goes to public state school services.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to oral evidence by the Minister of State for International Development to the International Development Committee on DFID's work on education: Leaving no one behind, HC 367, on 18 October 2017, what time period the Minister is referring to in his statement that 95 per cent of DFID’s education funding goes to public state school services.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of education funding it allocated to public state school services in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Penny Mordaunt: DFID’s education policy “Get Children Learning,” launched in February 2018, sets out that the state is the guarantor of quality basic education for all, but need not be the sole financer or provider of education services. In financial year 2016/17 we carried out a one-off exercise to calculate the proportion of DFID’s education spend going to public education. Our conclusion was “DFID invests overwhelmingly in the public sector with over 95% of education funding going to public education”. This was a snapshot of the education portfolio at the time. This calculated education spend on DFID’s bilateral and centrally-managed programmes including those operating in Pakistan, Kenya and Nigeria that provided funding to low cost private schools. To repeat the exercise and provide a year on year breakdown would incur a disproportionate cost. We continue to take a pragmatic approach in our support to education, using a range of delivery partners to provide children with the education they deserve. In some cases this includes for-profit organisations who deliver services through the public education system.

Yemen: Overseas Aid

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the provision of (a) reproductive health and (b) gender-based violence prevention services in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: As part of its £96.5 million of funding to UNICEF in Yemen over the coming three years, the UK will support 800,000 people with reproductive health services. This includes support for over 300,000 people with family planning advice, 292,000 women with antenatal check-ups and 117,000 women during childbirth. The UK is also supporting measures to prevent violence against women and girls in Yemen as part of its £13 million of funding this financial year (2018/2019) for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and International Office for Migration. These measures include medical support, legal services and psychosocial counselling to over 1,700 female sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors in Yemen, as well as the establishment of twelve gender specific community-based committees to work on SGBV prevention.

Yemen: Crimes of Violence

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taking to help prevent violence against women and girls in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The UK is supporting measures to prevent violence against women and girls in Yemen as part of its £13 million of funding this financial year to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Office for Migration (IOM). These measures have included medical support, legal services and psychosocial counselling to over 1,700 female sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors in Yemen, as well as the establishment of twelve gender specific community-based committees to work on SGBV prevention.

Developing Countries: Crimes of Violence

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department’s spending is currently focused on gender-based violence prevention.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is a world leader in championing prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls through research, programmes and partnerships. Our £25million What Works to Prevent Violence programme is the largest global investment in research into prevention of violence against women and girls. I am committed to maintaining the UK’s global leadership in this area.Work to prevent violence against women and girls in DFID consists of standalone prevention programming, integrated violence prevention and response programmes, a range of interventions incorporated into wider education, women’s economic empowerment and social protection programmes and work through multilateral agencies. This complexity means that we do not specifically track all this spend as gender-based violence prevention.

Sustainable Development

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to ensure her Department's implementation of  Sustainable Development Goal 5 and Goal 8 includes (a) targets and (b) indicators that can be adapted in the event of crises.

Alistair Burt: A key strategic objective of the UK aid strategy is to strengthen resilience and response to crises. This is, in our view, critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the most vulnerable countries. DFID’s crises response is needs-based, and therefore particularly sensitive to women and girls, as one of the groups most impacted in crises. DFID also continuously adapts its programmes to prepare for, and build resilience to, crises. This includes a focus on supporting jobs and livelihoods for the most vulnerable groups including women and girls. In Nepal, we support disaster risk reduction efforts that provide work opportunities to the most vulnerable and ensure that women can access these through targeted recruitment campaigns. The DFID-funded Centre for Global Disaster Protection also works with developing countries to improve their financial resilience to disasters and help them safeguard economic development for the most vulnerable, including women and girls.

Department for Education

Schools: Ashford

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has in place for increasing secondary school places in Ashford after 2022; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: There are 21,211 more school places in Kent than there were in 2010 - as part of our drive to create a million more school places this decade, the largest expansion for at least two generations.Local authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that there is a school place available for every child, and the Department provides basic need funding for every place that local authorities tell us they need. Kent has received £246 million to provide new school places from 2011-2018, and has been allocated a further £52 million from 2018-2021. Capital funding for education beyond the current period will be agreed as part of the next Spending Review.

Special Guardianship Orders

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2019 to Question 211708, on Special Guardianship Orders, for what reason the Government does not record disruption rates of adoptions and special Guardianship orders, and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The number of children returning to care who had previously had a permanence arrangement, including adoption and special guardianship, can be found in table C1 of the statistical release ‘Children looked-after in England (including adoption)' for the year ending 31 March 2018 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018.The department does not collect or publish information on breakdowns of all adoption orders or all special guardianship orders. This is partly because it is impossible to use available administrative data to link a child’s pre- and post-care histories, as the child’s social care, NHS, and pupil number changes after an adoption order is made. Furthermore, after the making of an adoption order, agencies are under no obligation to keep in touch with adoptive families and some adoptive parents wish to cut ties with Children’s Services. We collect data about children returning to care but where an adoption or special guardianship order is disrupted and the local authority is not working with the family, that data will not be available. Data underpinning previous permanence arrangements as described above is based on self-declaration only.A research report ‘Beyond the adoption order’ was published in 2014 and gave a one-off insight into adoption breakdown. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beyond-the-adoption-order-challenges-intervention-disruption.

Disabled Students' Allowances: Computers

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what contracts the Department of Education has with the companies that supply laptops under the Disabled Student Allowance.

Chris Skidmore: The department does not hold contracts for the supply of laptops under Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs). The Student Loans Company administers DSAs, and recently announced its intention to place contracts for the supply of DSAs assistive technology equipment and training.

Disabled Students' Allowances: Computers

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the value for money students who have paid £200 to receive a laptop under the Disabled Student Allowance receive.

Chris Skidmore: The department has not made an assessment of the value for money of Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) computer equipment. However, recent research commissioned by the department indicates that, overall, 73% of 558 students surveyed were satisfied with IT equipment funded by DSAs. The research is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/770546/Evaluation_of_DSAs_Report_IFF.pdf.

Overseas Students: China and India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support for funding is available to international students from (a) India and (b) China to study at UK universities.

Chris Skidmore: Overseas students and staff make an important contribution to our universities and it is testament to our system that so many international students choose to come and study here. The government welcomes international students and we actively promote study in the UK through the GREAT Campaign and to over 100 countries through the British Council. The government also announced on 21 January that the Department for Education and the Department for International Trade will produce an international education strategy in early 2019. The strategy will set out the government’s ambition for international education, in which international students play a key role. Chevening is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s flagship international scholarship programme offering fully funded post-graduate study to exceptional future leaders from around the world. This year we have 1790 scholars from across 140 countries, including 75 from China and 57 from India. There are also various scholarships offered by a number of UK institutions. The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) in the UK awards scholarships and fellowships to Commonwealth citizens for postgraduate study and professional development. In 2018/19, the CSC is supporting some 798 students to study in the UK, of which 83 are from India.

Overseas Students: China and India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of students studying at overseas campuses of UK universities in (a) India and (b) China in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Skidmore: In the academic year 2017/18 the number of students studying in India and China, for awards or courses of UK universities overseas, without coming to the UK, was 17,135 students and 75,995 respectively.Further information can be found at: ​https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/where-from.

Education: Visual Impairment

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve the provision of education services for visually impaired children.

Nadhim Zahawi: In April 2018, the Department for Education announced £3.4 million funding over 2018-2020 to equip the school workforce to deliver high quality teaching across all types of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including for children and young people with vision impairment. The SEND schools’ workforce contract, which will be delivered by the whole school SEND consortium and led by the National Association for Special Educational Needs (Nasen), will help schools identify and meet their training needs in relation to SEND, as well as building the specialist workforce.We are also reviewing the learning outcomes of specialist SEND qualifications, including the mandatory qualifications for teachers of classes with visual impairment, to ensure they reflect the changing needs of the education system.

Foster Care: Finance

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will (a) ensure that the Staying Put programme is adequately (i) costed and (ii) funded and (b) bring forward a national minimum allowance for that programme to cover the cost of looking after a young person.

Nadhim Zahawi: Since its introduction in May 2014, the Department for Education has provided over £90 million in funding to local authorities to implement Staying Put; and has committed to provide a further £23.77 million in 2019/20. Decisions on funding beyond March 2020 will be subject to the outcome of the next Spending Review.The government does not believe that introducing a national minimum allowance is the right way forward. Unlike children in foster care, young people in Staying Put arrangements are adults, and may be in work, or claiming benefits. These financial sources can be used to contribute to the cost of providing the Staying Put arrangement, in a similar way that young people who are still living at home with their parents may contribute to the costs of running the household.

Overseas Students: China and India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many international students in higher education from (a) India and (b) China went on to (i) post-graduate education, (ii) employment and (iii) left the UK at the end of their studies in (A) 2015, (B) 2016, (C) 2017 and  (D) 2018.

Chris Skidmore: The department has published employment/further study outcomes for international students based on Longitudinal Educational Outcomes data in the publication, ‘Graduate outcomes (LEO): 2015 to 2016’, at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-outcomes-2015-to-2016.The employment outcomes categories are grouped as follows:Unmatched/Activity not captured - we have no tax/benefits/further study records for these graduates in the tax year in question.No sustained destination - we have a tax and/or benefits record but it does not fulfil the definition of ‘sustained employment’.Sustained employment only - graduates are considered to be in sustained employment if they were employed for at least one day for 5 out of the 6 months between October and March of the tax year in question or if they had a self-employment record in that tax year. To be in the sustained employment only category, graduates must not have a record of further study in the tax year in question.Sustained employment, further study or both - includes all graduates with a record of sustained employment and/or further study. A graduate is defined as being in further study if they have a valid higher education study record at any UK Higher Education Institution on the Higher Education Statistics Agency database in the relevant tax year. The further study does not have to be at postgraduate level to be counted.

Children in Care: Missing Persons

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked-after children placed in children’s homes (a) inside the local authority responsible, (b) outside the local authority responsible and (c) nationally (i) were reported missing by (A) duration of missing incident and (B) age of child at the start of missing incident and (ii) went missing more than once during the year for each of the last five years for which data is available.

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked-after children placed in children’s homes (a) inside the local authority responsible, (b) outside the local authority responsible and (c) in each local authority area (i) were reported missing by (A) duration of missing incident, (B) age of child at the start of missing incident and (ii) went missing more than once during the year, for each of the last five years for which data is available.

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked-after children in (a) foster placements and (b) children’s homes were placed (i) inside and (ii) outside of the local authority responsible; and for those children placed outside of the local authority responsible what the average distance the placement was from the placing authority in each local authority area for each year since 2012.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.The latest information on children looked-after is published in the statistical release ‘Children looked-after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’ at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018.

Schools: Cereal Products

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to schools on providing fortified cereals with high levels of sugar.

Nadhim Zahawi: The school food standards define the food and drink that must be provided, those which are restricted, and those not to be provided by schools, including during breakfasts. The standards are food based and nutritional information of individual products is not specifically set out, however schools and catering services must meet allergens law. The standards severely restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, including high sugar foods and confectionery. The guidance to accompany the standards includes portion size and food group which is available on the School Food Plan website at: www.schoolfoodplan.com .

Department of Education: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value of contracts held by his Department with (a) Deloitte, (b) Slaughter and May and (c) Mott MacDonald is in the last two years.

Nick Gibb: As a requirement of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and in line with the Procurement Policy Note 07/16 legal requirement to publish on Contract Finder, the Department for Education publishes details of awarded contracts on the Contracts Finder website. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.

Frontline

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2019 to Question 216290 on Frontline, how much money has been repaid by participants to (a) Frontline and (b) his Department.

Nadhim Zahawi: I refer the hon. Member for South Shields to the answer I gave on 7 February 2019 to Question 216290, to date no money has been repaid by participants.

Specialist Schools: Complaints

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 217025 on Specialist Schools: Complaints, how many parents were dissatisfied with their school’s complaints procedure and subsequently made complaints to him on the use of restrictive practices in specialist schools in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally.

Curriculum: First Aid

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans for all secondary school students to receive compulsory first aid training, resulting in a formal qualification.

Nick Gibb: The draft guidance for the new subjects of Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education is currently being finalised following the public consultation that closed in November 2018.The Department has set out in the draft statutory guidance that health education should cover first aid and emergency lifesaving. Schools will have flexibility to determine how the content is taught, including options to work with expert organisations such as the British Heart Foundation, St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross, that offer a range of specialist lesson plans, some of which may result in a recognised qualification.Subject to making the regulations, schools will be required to teach the new subjects from September 2020, but they will be encouraged and supported to start teaching them from September 2019 on a voluntary basis.

Graduates: Computer Software

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have graduated with a degree related to computer games design and programming in each year since 2010.

Chris Skidmore: The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects and publishes statistics on enrolments and qualifications obtained at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2017/18. The table below shows the numbers of first degree qualifiers in computer games subjects for each year since 2012/13. Information on the number of qualifiers in these subjects has been available since the introduction of the third version of Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) in 2012/13, hence figures cannot be provided for any year prior to that. Full-person-equivalent[1] First Degree qualifiers in computer games subjectsUK HEIs Academic Year Number of qualifiers in computer games subjects[2]2012/135952013/146252014/156902015/169002016/171,2902017/181,265  [1] Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course. [2] Qualifiers in Games (principal category I6 of JACS), which includes Games, Computer games programming, Computer game design and Computer games graphics. This code is only available since the introduction of the third version of JACS in 2012/13. More information on JACS codes can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.

Higher Education: Registration

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many higher education providers have not completed the process of re-registration with the Office for Students.

Chris Skidmore: The Office for Students (OfS) currently has 301 higher education providers on its register.The requirement for higher education providers to register with the OfS was introduced for the first time by the Higher Education and Research Act, 2017, for all providers to complete by August 2019.

Students: Protection

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many higher education institutions have not published a student protection plan.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of students not currently covered by a student protection plan.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which higher education institutions have yet to publish an agreed student protection plan.

Chris Skidmore: All universities and other higher education providers that are registered with the Office for Students (OfS) have a student protection plan as a condition of registration, and they are expected to publish their plans.That requirement applies to all those already registered and those seeking to register in the future. The OfS is currently checking the extent to which providers have published their plans to ensure all are publicly available.The OfS currently has 301 higher education providers on its register. The registration process, as introduced for the first time in the Higher Education and Research Act, 2017, is ongoing and will be completed by August 2019.Upon completion, the OfS will be able define the number of students covered by a student protection plan.

Teachers: Pensions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is consulting on providing additional funding to higher education providers to cover the increased costs of employer contributions to the Teachers' Pension Scheme.

Nick Gibb: The Department’s public consultation to gather evidence on the impact of increased contributions to the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) for all TPS employers, including universities closed on 12 February 2019. The Department is looking at responses to the consultation and will publish a response in due course.

Ministry of Justice

Sexual Offences: Reoffenders

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many convicted sex offenders released from custody on licence have committed further sexual offences during the period that they are under licence in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: Serious Further Offences (SFO) are rare. Fewer than 0.5% of offenders under statutory supervision are convicted of an SFO. Nonetheless, every single SFO is taken extremely seriously, and in all cases a review is carried out to identify any lessons for the better management of future cases. The table below provides the number of convicted sex offenders released from custody on licence who were convicted between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2018 of a SFO sexual offence during the period that they were under licence. YearNumber of sex offenders released on licence, who committed (convicted of) a sexual SFO, whilst subject to licence2013-2014102014-2015142015-2016*152016-2017*252017-2018*19*Provisional figures subject to change as outstanding cases are concluded at court.An SFO review is undertaken where an offender under statutory supervision in the community is charged with a qualifying offence – a “notification”. Not every offender charged with an SFO will eventually be convicted of an SFO.

Courts: Londonderry

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the attack on Londonderry courthouse on 20 January 2019.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



Policing and justice (including the courts) is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and, as such, there have not been discussions between the Ministry of Justice and the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service on this subject. The Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service is an executive agency of Northern Ireland’s Department of Justice. However, I know my Right Honorable Friend, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is well briefed on this matter and we stand together with the people of Northern Ireland in ensuring that we never go back to the violence and terror of the past.

Trials

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people failed to appear for their court hearings in each of the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 12 February 2019



Data for the number of people who failed to appear for their court hearings has been published up to December 2017 and can be found in the ‘Remands: Magistrates’ Court data tool’ and the ‘Remands: Crown Court data tool’, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2017. When using the data tools, remove ‘Remand status at the magistrates’ court’ (Magistrates’ Court tool) or ‘Remand status at the Crown Court’ (Crown Court tool) from the Rows and select ‘01: FTA’ in the Outcome filter to see the number of people who failed to appear for their court hearings.

Prisons: Education

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether companies that gain contracts to provide prison education will be required to recognise trades unions; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Holding answer received on 08 February 2019



The new Prison Education Framework contracts do not require suppliers to recognise trades unions. Officials continue to meet regularly with the University and College Union (UCU) to discuss prison education matters, with the current Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) providers represented too. The new Prison Education Framework contracts commence on 1 April, and we expect those meetings with the UCU to continue, and that the suppliers will continue to be represented. In the meantime, incoming suppliers are discussing a range of issues with staff and their trade union representatives, both to ensure transition and to ensure the important legal duties concerning staff rights on transfer are met. My officials will monitor these staff transfer arrangements closely.

Special Educational Needs: Tribunals

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of a case being taken to the First-tier Special Educational Needs and Disability tribunal .

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 08 February 2019



In the financial year 2017/18, the cost of the First Tier Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Tribunal (SENDIST) was £5,038,000. During that same period, 5,049 appeals lodged with the Tribunal, of which 1,492 appeals proceeded to hearing and 3,557 appeals did not. The average cost per appeal lodged is therefore £998.Further details are published on page 6 of the document link provided:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/766114/Tribunal_and_GRC_statistics_Q2_201819_revised2.pdf

Members: Correspondence

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when his Department plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Bridgend of 8 January 2019 reference MM/JH/08/01/2019.

Rory Stewart: The response was sent to you on 7 February 2019 and a further copy has been sent to your office.

Birmingham Prison: G4S

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether G4S will resume management of HMP Birmingham once the safety standards of the prison have improved; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Holding answer received on 11 February 2019



We regard well-run prisons as fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system, and a vital part of our reform plans. Private providers continue to play an important role in the prison estate. The ability for G4S to take back control of the prison will not happen until we are assured that it would be safe to do so and that the issues which gave rise to the step-in have been remedied and are not likely to reoccur. The decision to return the prison to G4S control will be determined by their capacity to safely manage the prison and maintain a trajectory of improvement across a range of issues. We have therefore taken the decision to extend the step-in until the summer, when the position will be reviewed. This will provide time for the changes we are making to bed in, for improvements to gather pace, and for a conclusion to be reached on the longer-term future of the prison. Our priority is the safety of the prisoners, and ultimately the safety of the public.

Prisoners: Learning Disability

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the rates of learning difficulties among the prison population.

Rory Stewart: Data on offender learning participation, and learner characteristics, is published by the Department for Education. Data on learning difficulties and/or disabilities amongst those prisoners who engage in prison education is at: OLASS: participation and achievement by equality and diversity & English and maths level: 2010/2011 to 2017/18. Self-declared data on learning difficulties and/or disabilities gathered as part of the assessment of prisoners’ levels of maths and English on reception is at: OLASS English and maths assessments by ethnicity and learners with learning difficulties or disabilities: participation 2014/2015 to 2017/2018. The data consistently show that around one third of prisoners have a learning difficulty and/or disability. In April 2016, the Department for Education published a breakdown of the type of learning difficulty and type of learning disability amongst prisoner learners for academic years 2011/12 to 2014/15. That data is at: Offender Learning breakdown by disability and learning difficulty 2011/12 to 2014/15.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence and Self-harm

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of (a) deaths, (b) assaults and (c) cases of self-harm in prisons.

Rory Stewart: Prisons should be places of safety and reform. Violence is never acceptable, and we recognise that the current level of suicide and self-harm is too high. With this in mind, the Government is taking unprecedented action, including:investing in over 4,300 additional staff since October 2015;introducing new suicide and self-harm prevention training, which has already reached over 24,000 staff;improving support for prisoners in their early days and weeks and rolling out a ‘key worker’ scheme which ensures each prisoner has dedicated support from a particular prison officer;funding the Samaritans to provide their valuable Listeners Scheme for a further three years;improving the ACCT case management process for those identified as at risk of self-harm or suicide.investing an extra £70 million to improve safety, security and decency, and equipping officers with rigid-bar handcuffs, PAVA incapacitant spray and body-worn cameras to help prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners when dealing with violent incidents and assaults; andtackling the drugs that we know are fuelling much of the violence in custody - introducing new x-ray scanners, drug-detection dogs and dedicated search teams. We are also committed to taking action to improve prisoners’ health. Since April 2018, a new National Partnership Agreement has been in place, marking an even stronger level of co-operation and cohesiveness between agencies that influence the policy, commissioning and delivery of prison health services. The agreement sets out how the partnership (DHSC, NHS England, MoJ, HMPPS and Public Health England) will work together to deliver its three core objectives. It agrees ten key priority areas for 2018-2021, including reducing incidents of self-harm and self-inflicted deaths in the adult secure estate. In addition, NHS England has published a new Service Specification for Integrated Substance Misuse Treatment Services in Prisons in England, which brings greater focus to the treatment of users of psychoactive substances and makes stronger links to mental health.

Parole Board: Training

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what training his Department provides to members of the Parole Board on interviewing serving prisoners at hearings.

Rory Stewart: The training provided to Parole Board members is entirely a matter for the independent Parole Board. The Parole Board provides full training and mentoring to all its members to ensure they can carry out their role effectively. All new members appointed are supported and trained throughout their time at the Parole Board by mentors, fellow members, and the office staff. This will include training on the questioning of witnesses, including serving prisoners. All members must attain the relevant accreditation before commencing their role in full. The Parole Board has a Standards Committee that advises the Management Committee with regards to accreditation, competence, support, and training of Parole Board members, in order to develop and promote high standards of practice across the whole of the Parole Board.

Parole

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of defence lawyers (a) commissioning and (b) presenting psychology reports in relation to their clients at parole hearings.

Rory Stewart: Neither the Secretary of State nor the Parole Board records centrally the number of parole reviews in which the prisoner's legal representative (a) commissions or (b) presents a report from a psychologist on behalf of the prisoner. To produce such a record would incur disproportionate cost.

Parole Board: Judicial Review

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serving prisoners have taken the Parole Board to a Judicial Review in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: The numbers of all legal challenges and complaints made against the Parole Board in the years 2013/14 to 2017/18 can be found in the Parole Board’s Annual Report & Accounts for 2017/18 published on 18 July 2018. All judicial review claims except one in 2017/18 were made by prisoners: YearJudicial reviews brought by prisoners:2013/14762014/15492015/16362016/17262017/1830 (31 in total for the year)The Parole Board has adopted a litigation strategy which reflects its role as a court like body. When a challenge is made to the merits of a decision, and the Parole Board does not think a new referral is needed, the Board will take a neutral stance in the judicial review. If the challenge is given permission to proceed, the High Court will then review the decision on its own merits. The Secretary of State announced on 4 February 2019 that, following a public consultation, the Government intends to create a reconsideration mechanism to allow for Parole Board decisions in certain circumstances to be looked at again if they appear to be fundamentally flawed. A prisoner will be able to apply for their case to be reconsidered if they think the decision was unlawful. The reconsideration mechanism, which will also be accessible by victims via the Secretary of State, will allow for legally flawed decisions – in the rare cases that may occur – to be corrected without the need to pursue a costly and time-consuming judicial review.

Parole

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timeframe is for the introduction of the right of a victim to make representations in relation to a Parole Board decision.

Rory Stewart: On 4 February 2019 the Government published its review of the Parole Board Rules and the response to the public consultation on the reconsideration of parole decisions. These publications confirmed our intention to introduce a new reconsideration mechanism that will enable parole decisions to be challenged without the need to resort to costly and time-consuming judicial review proceedings. Victims will be able to ask officials in Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service to consider challenging a decision on their behalf. Before it can be implemented, provision must be made in the Parole Board Rules by secondary legislation to establish the legal power needed for decisions to be reconsidered. It will also be necessary to put in place the resources needed to operate the new mechanism and the associated guidance, training, documentation and electronic systems. We expect to be able to lay the new Rules before parliament and implement the new scheme by the summer.

Parole

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what criteria his Department will use to determine whether a Parole Board decision is referred to a parole board Judge  after representations have been made by a victim.

Rory Stewart: Under the proposed new reconsideration mechanism, announced on 4 February 2019, the criteria will be the same as judicial review – that is, whether the Parole Board’s decision was legally or procedurally flawed in some way. It will fall to a Parole Board judicial member, unconnected to the original decision, to determine that if decision should be reconsidered, having regard to the evidence presented. To determine whether to make an application to the Parole Board following representations from a victim, a dedicated team in my department will examine the case, including all the evidence and the procedures that were followed, in order to identify whether there may be an arguable case to make an application. They will look for any indications of whether the Board may have gone beyond or outside its powers, if the Rules were adhered to, whether the correct procedures were followed and where the panel’s decision could appear irrational in light of all the evidence before it. A Parole Board judge will then make the decision on reconsideration and whether the criteria have been met. But my officials are well placed to support victims by helping to determine whether there is an arguable case for an application to be made and, if there is, how best to present that argument to the Board.

Prisons: Security

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to improve security in prisons.

Rory Stewart: Our prisons face a range of security challenges including the availability of drugs in prison, and psychoactive substances in particular. As a priority we must toughen security and searching to make it much more difficult for anyone to get contraband such as drugs or mobile phones into prisons. Through the Ten Prison Project we are emphasising the use of technology to search letters, bags and people. Alongside making it much harder to get contraband though the prison gate, we are also closing down other routes, such as by using netting to prevent drones and throw-overs. Improved physical security combined with good existing work on intelligence will help inform priority areas for future investment and development right across the prison estate. In the meantime, across our prisons, we have previously invested £2 million in modern technology such as handheld and portable detection devices. This was followed by another £7 million last year to enhance security in prisons through scanners, improved searching techniques and phone- blocking technology. More recently we have introduced dedicated regional search teams that can target specific individuals or parts of our estate on an intelligence-led basis and vulnerability assessments that cover gate security. We are also seeking to improve the resilience of our prisons to specific security threats through, for example, our investment in intelligence teams, a new Financial Investigations Unit, a new Serious Organised Crime Unit and the changes we are making to our dedicated counter-corruption unit as part of our new anti-corruption strategy.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce delays in personal independent payment tribunal hearings being held.

Lucy Frazer: It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Justice recognises that there are delays in the system and is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. In the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction, 225 new medical members have already been appointed and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been recruited. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from the fact that 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and provide a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal

Funerals: Children

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress the Government has made on implementing the Children's Funeral Fund.

Edward Argar: As the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster confirmed during Prime Minister’s Questions on 6 February 2019 (HC Deb (6 February 2019) vol. 654, col. 330. Available at: http://bit.ly/2DlhQXW), the detailed policy on delivery of the Children’s Funeral Fund for England is being developed, and this will determine the implementation timetable. We will provide an update on progress as soon as possible.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps he is taking to reduce tribunal waiting times for people attempting to claim personal independence payment.

Lucy Frazer: It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Justice recognises that there are delays in the system and is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. In the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction, 225 new medical members have already been appointed and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been recruited. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from the fact that 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and provide a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal

Legal Profession: Complaints

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints were received by (a) his Department and (b) its approved regulators on the performance of (i) barristers and (ii) solicitors in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the legislative framework governing the regulation of legal services in England and Wales. The position is different in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. The direct regulation of the legal profession is independent of Government and the Ministry of Justice does not directly handle complaints about barristers and solicitors. Complaints about barristers and solicitors are heard by either the Office for Legal Complaints, where it is a service complaint, or their respective regulator, in these cases the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Bar Standards Board, where it is a matter of professional conduct. The Office for Legal Complaints, Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board publish the number of complaints they receive in their annual reports, which can be found on their websites as follows: OLC: https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/raising-standards/data-and-decisions/SRA: https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/how-we-work/reports.pageBSB: https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/media-centre/publications/

Debt Collection: Licensing

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 214134 on Debt Collection, how many certified enforcement officers have lost their licence to enforce debts since April 2014 as a consequence of a judicial order following a judgment that they were not a fit and proper person to hold a certificate.

Lucy Frazer: Information held centrally by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service does not record how many certified enforcement agents have lost their certificate to enforce debts as a result of a judicial order that they were not a fit and proper person to hold a certificate.

Courts: Monitoring

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what measures he has put in place to ensure independent monitoring of the court system.

Lucy Frazer: It is neither necessary or appropriate to have an independent monitor of our courts system. Judges are impartial and independent of government and public bodies. Any judgment is an absolute consequence of the process of the rule of law and must be respected as such. It is right that judicial decisions are accountable solely through appeal to a higher court. It is also possible for individual litigants to complain about the personal conduct of a judge during the conduct of a case to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO), whose statutory remit is to deal with complaints of misconduct. Monthly Management Information provides performance information on all courts including timeliness of hearings and disposals. This information is visible to all HMCTS staff (and to the public through quarterly published statistics). As such, it is continuously monitored at all levels from the frontline operation up through to the HMCTS Board, as part of a robust Planning, Allocation and Performance framework.

Courts: Monitoring

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what procedures he has put in place to monitor whether individual courts are operating efficiently and within agreed timescales.

Lucy Frazer: Monthly Management Information provides performance information on all courts. This information is visible to all HMCTS staff (and to the public through quarterly published statistics). As such, it is continuously monitored at all levels from the frontline operation up through to the HMCTS Board, as part of a robust Planning, Allocation and Performance framework.

Trials: Standards

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what sanctions he has put in place for courts that fail to operate within agreed time limits for the commencement of trials.

Lucy Frazer: Court performance is influenced by numerous factors which includes, but is not limited to, available judicial resource, changes in the offence and case mix and the overall performance of other justice sector agencies. Wherever our Performance Framework identifies that a court is not operating within target timescales, HMCTS will consider what support can best be offered to assist in recovering the position.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for personal independence payment appeals to be heard in court.

Lucy Frazer: It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Justice recognises that there are delays in the system and is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. In the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction, 225 new medical members have already been appointed and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been recruited. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from the fact that 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and provide a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal

Prison Sentences: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the factors contributing to the average length custodial sentences in Wales relative to England.

Rory Stewart: Sentencing decisions are a matter for the independent courts. When deciding what sentence to impose the courts take into account all the facts of each case. This will include the seriousness of the offence, the culpability of the offender and aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council, which cover England and Wales. The Ministry of Justice publishes criminal justice statistics, including sentencing and average custodial sentencing length, on a quarterly and annual basis. The latest quarterly statistics, to June 2018 are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-june-2018

Sentencing: Young People

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of young adults sentenced to less than 12 months custody in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last seven years.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many female offenders have been given immediate custodial sentences at magistrates courts in Wales in each of the last seven years.

Edward Argar: Data for sentencing broken down by age, sex and location has been published up to December 2017 and can be found in the ‘Court outcomes by Police Force Area data tool’, available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx. For Wales, filter the Police Force Area to Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales, South Wales.For England, remove the above locations and ‘special/miscellaneous and unknown police forces’ from the Police Force Area filter. For the number of young adults sentenced to less than 12 months custody:Select ‘All’ in the ‘Court type’ filterSelect ’02: Young adults’ in the ‘Age Group’ filterSelect the relevant sentence lengths using the ‘Custodial Sentence Length’ filter For the number of females given immediate custodial sentences at magistrates’ court:Select ’02: Magistrates’ Court’ in the ‘Court type’ filterSelect ’02: Female’ in the ‘Sex’ filterSelect ’15: Immediate custody’ in the ‘Outcome’ filterSelect the four Welsh police forces in the Police Force Area

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2018 to Question 144209 on Personal Independence Payment: Appeals, what solutions his Department is exploring to increase the capacity of the Tribunals Service in relation to personal independence payment; and what the digital reform initiatives referred to in that Answer are.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pleural Plaques: Compensation

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people applied for compensation under the pleural plaques compensation scheme in each parliamentary constituency; and what proportion of those people settled (a) in part and (b) in full.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to promote high food and environmental standards with the UK’s future trading partners.

George Hollingbery: The Government is proud of our high standards of food safety and environmental protections and these will not be watered down when we leave the EU. When we leave the EU, we will maintain our current standards. We will keep our existing UK legislation, and the EU Withdrawal Act will convert EU law into UK law as it applies at the moment of exit. This includes the regulatory regime for food safety, animal welfare, and regulatory product requirements for industrial goods. Nothing in EU trade agreements, for example the recent EU-Canada agreement (CETA), prevents the UK from regulating in the pursuit of legitimate public policy objectives. Future trade agreements will support sustainability and environmental goals and maintain safety and public confidence in the food we eat. We are exploring all options in the design of future bilateral trade and investment agreements, including possible environmental provisions within these taking into account results of the DIT consultation exercise.

Department for International Trade: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many officials from his Department have been seconded from their primary role to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if he will make a statement.

Graham Stuart: The Department of International Trade (DIT) was created as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. All the work carried out by the Department contributes to supporting the government to deliver Brexit. Individual roles are not classified according to particular EU Exit scenarios, including leaving without a deal. Several teams within DIT have reprioritised their activity where necessary to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Trade Agreements

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that new free trade agreements after the UK leaves the EU do not (a) lower standards in and (b) privatise NHS services.

George Hollingbery: Protecting the NHS is of the utmost importance and the UK Government’s position is that the NHS is not, and never will be, for sale to the private sector, whether overseas or domestic. The NHS is protected by specific exceptions and reservations in EU trade agreements, including the recent EU-Canada agreement (CETA). As we leave the EU, the UK will continue to ensure that rigorous protections for the NHS are included in trade agreements it is party to, whether transitioned from an EU context or as a result of new negotiations.

Iron and Steel: USA

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the European Commission Safeguard Measures on imports in relation to section 232 tariffs introduced by the US administration will be in force in UK law on the day that the UK leaves the EU.

George Hollingbery: In the event that the UK leaves the EU with no deal, the Government’s priority is to provide continuity for UK industry. Our transition policy is therefore to ensure UK industry retains trade remedy protections on exit, and so we are committed to carrying across existing measures where there is a UK interest, and then reviewing them to make them UK specific. We will follow this approach for any definitive safeguard measures that are in place on exit, as well as for existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures.

World Trade Organisation: Trade Agreements

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government has a WTO trade schedule prepared for 29 March 2019.

George Hollingbery: The Government has prepared and lodged at the WTO UK-only schedules for both goods and services. These were lodged on 24 July 2018 for goods and 3 December 2018 for services. Copies were placed in the House Library. Both are ready to become operational on 29 March 2019 if a Withdrawal Agreement is not agreed with the EU.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Noise

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether (a) local authorities and (b) housing providers are required to notify the occupant of property A before noise recording equipment is installed in property B in connection with suspected noise nuisance from property A.

Kit Malthouse: Holding answer received on 11 February 2019



DEFRA is responsible for the domestic legislation covering statutory nuisances, although local authority environmental health departments are the main enforcers of the statutory noise regime and associated legislation.There is no requirement under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to notify occupants that any recording apparatus has been installed by local authorities in any on-going statutory nuisance cases. There is also no similar requirement on housing providers.

Social Rented Housing: Overcrowding

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to tackle overcrowding in social housing.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of social housing to provides homes for those who need them.We have made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver 250,000 new affordable homes, including for social rent. Since 2010, we have delivered over 407,000 new affordable homes, including over 293,000 affordable homes for rent.On 18 September we announced an additional £2 billion of long-term funding certainty for housing associations to 28/29. This extra funding will deliver more affordable homes and stimulate the sector’s wider building ambitions, through strategic partnerships.Further, by abolishing the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap at Autumn Budget, we have given councils the tools they need to deliver a new generation of council housing. Local authorities are now free to borrow to build new council homes in line with the Prudential Code, and we expect them to double building to deliver up to 10,000 homes per year by 21/22.Through the Localism Act 2011 we have retained the statutory ‘reasonable preference’ requirements that ensure that social housing is prioritised for those in housing need, including people who are in overcrowded housing.In the Social Housing Green Paper we set out our intention to undertake an evidence gathering exercise to help us understand how the allocations system is working and whether it is striking the right balance between fairness, support and aspiration.

Green Belt

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of green belt land is under consideration for development in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Kit Malthouse: Decisions on future development on Green Belt land are made by local planning authorities as part of the local planning process. The requested information is not gathered or held centrally. Any data used as basis for an answer would be unreliable, because at any stage of the Local Plan process a local authority may revise its consideration of how much land, and where, to propose for allocation for future development. The Department does publish statistics on changes in the amount of Green Belt land in England. These are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/green-belt-statistics.

Private Rented Housing: Licensing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many selective licensing schemes are in operation in England.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason only a small number of selective licensing schemes are in operation.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to enable more local authorities to establish selective licensing schemes in areas where they are needed to tackle poor housing conditions.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Selective licensing can be an effective, targeted tool to deliver improved standards and safety in the private rented sector for areas suffering from serious problems. Where selective licensing is poorly designed and not well targeted, it can come at a cost to landlords, which can be passed on to tenants through increased rents.The Government only holds information on schemes that require the approval of the Secretary of State. Since 2015, schemes which cover more than 20 per cent of a local authority’s private rented stock or geographical area require approval. Eight schemes have been approved by the Secretary of State in the following local authority areas: Blackpool, Brent, Burnley, Hyndburn, Newham, Nottingham, Peterborough and Redbridge.We are currently conducting an independent review into the effectiveness of selective licensing, through which we are engaging with local authorities about their experience of selective licensing. The final report is due to be published in Spring 2019.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Pensions

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish his Department's valuation of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The valuation reports of the Armed Forces Pension Scheme will be completed by the Government Actuary's Department and published in due course.

HMS Queen Elizabeth: Deployment

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when HMS Queen Elizabeth will embark on her first deployment; what the total number of personnel in the basic and wider crew expected to be on board is; and what further capabilities will accompany her.

Mark Lancaster: HMS Queen Elizabeth's first operational deployment will be in 2021.A Maritime Task Group will be tailored to meet the required task. The precise number and mix of vessels, and therefore the number of personnel, would depend on the operational circumstances at the time.

Armed Forces: Joint Exercises

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel will be provided for Exercise Joint Warrior.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 7 February 2019, to Question 217061.



217061 - Armed Forces: Joint Exercises
(Word Document, 28.31 KB)

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the value of contracts held by his Department with (a) Deloitte, (b) Slaughter and May and (c) Mott MacDonald is in the last two years.

Stuart Andrew: In the last two years, the value of the contracts held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) with Deloitte was £58.948 million, and those with Mott MacDonald totalled £120.275 million.The MOD has held no contracts with Slaughter and May within the last two years.Information about the contracts that we place with industry is available on GOV.uk as part of our MOD Trade, Industry and Contracts statistics:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-trade-and-industry-indexIn addition, MOD contracts worth over £10,000 are published on the Government's Contracts Finder website, which is available on GOV.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Bomber Command: Military Decorations

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Bomber Command clasp criteria to include aircrew based outside of the UK.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend, the Minister of State for Defence (Earl Howe), on 1 April 2016 to Question HL7344 in the House of Lords.https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2016-03-23/HL7344/



HL7344 - Military Decorations: World War II
(Word Document, 28.85 KB)

Warships: Procurement

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's recent announcement, what the estimated cost is of its acquisition of two Littoral Strike Ships.

Stuart Andrew: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced on 11 February 2019, we will use the Transformation Fund to develop a concept for a Littoral Strike Ship. Estimates of the potential acquisition cost of this capability will be established during the initial concept phase.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many hearings in the first tier tribunal in the social entitlement chamber took place where her Department was a respondent; and at how many of those hearings a representative of the Department was in attendance in each month in 2018.

Sarah Newton: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (SoS) is the respondent in the First-tier Tribunal (FtT). The SoS responds to Notices of Appeal in writing. Where the SoS is additionally represented, in person, it is usually by a Presenting Officer. Presenting Officers represent the Department at tribunal hearings and provide valuable feedback to both Decision Makers and Health Care Professionals. Information on the number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals cleared at an oral hearing and the number where a Presenting Officer represented the Department are shown in the table below. To provide information across other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost. There are a small number of occasions when the SoS instructs counsel to represent her before the FtT, this information is not recorded separately. ESA and PIP appeals cleared at an oral hearingTotalPresenting Officer represented the DepartmentJan-1812,0404,020Feb-1810,2603,470Mar-1810,1903,120Apr-1810,1502,930May-1810,7603,120Jun-1811,1502,870Jul-1810,2502,510Aug-189,7601,940Sep-189,0101,790   The reduction in oral hearings attended by Presenting Officers is due to a number of factors. This includes significant training and upskilling of Presenting Officers affecting the number of hearings attended, and normal attrition rates leading to a reduction in the number of Presenting Officers in post. We expect that FtT hearings attended by Presenting Officers will increase once training and current recruitment activity has been completed and will be monitoring this regularly.Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.Great Britain only.Appeals may have more than one hearing, including where hearings are adjourned. The figures in the table above only include oral hearings where the appeal was cleared. They also exclude paper hearings.This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

Universal Credit: Chronic Illnesses and Disability

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made on the effect of universal credit on the mental health of applicants with long term illness and disability.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the effect of universal credit on the mental health of applicants with terminal illness; and how many applicant applied for universal credit under the special rules in 2018.

Sarah Newton: The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants. We are committed to supporting those with physical and mental health conditions, and ensuring that terminally ill patients are treated with the utmost sensitivity and care, when making a claim to Universal Credit. Universal Credit provides enhanced personalised support for people. Universal Credit is simplifying the benefits system. All claimants, including vulnerable claimants and those with mental health conditions, receive continuous tailored support managed through personal work coaches, who know each person. We have started to deliver additional training in mental health that will be available to work coaches to build their expertise and provide the most effective support. We are continuously reviewing and improving the service for vulnerable people who claim Universal Credit to ensure that it is accessible and responsive to their needs. This includes how they are identified and supported, either from our own staff or via referrals from local services. The information requested on special rules is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. We have committed to explore options around data sharing with the SSAC to consider how current practices could be enhanced. Analysts are currently investigating the availability of this data further.

Social Security Benefits: Neurology

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions (a) she, (b) Ministers and (c) officials of her Department have had with charities and third sector bodies on the overall competence and expertise of health care professionals who assess people with neurological conditions for (i) personal independence payment and (ii) employment and support allowance.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 08 February 2019



Ministers and officials regularly meet charities and third sector bodies, including those who have an understanding of those with neurological conditions, to discuss a range of issues in relation to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), including assessments. PIP and WCA Health Professionals must have 2 years of clinical experience (or less than 2 years post full registration experience by individual agreement with the Department). They are trained to undertake functional assessments and in addition complete training on neurological conditions and have access to a range of resources. Assessment Providers engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen, review and update their training programmes.

Employment: Disability

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to improve (a) pay and (b) employment opportunities for disabled people.

Sarah Newton: The government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW) the Government protects the lowest paid within our society, including disabled workers – who are explicitly listed as a group entitled to the correct minimum wage: https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage/who-gets-the-minimum-wage If any worker believes that they might have been underpaid, they can contact Acas for free and confidential help and advice, on 0300 123 1100, or submit a complaint direct to HMRC online using the link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pay-and-work-rights-complaints Government has the ambition of getting 1 million more disabled people in to work. On 30 November 2017 we published Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability, which lays out our strategy for achieving this ambition by improving both employment opportunities and retention in work for people with disabilities and health conditions. Our policies are designed to ensure that disabled people can access the labour market, get the support they need and progress in their careers. For example: We support disabled people to enter employment through initiatives like the Work and Health Programme, will support 220,000 disabled people over 5 years, and the Personal Support Package for those on ESA and Universal Credit equivalents. Our Disability Confident scheme aims to help and encourage more employers to become good employers of disabled people. Over 10,500 employers have signed up to Disability Confident so far, and that number continues to grow. Access to Work provides support of up to £57,200 per annum so that disabled people can stay in work and progress to senior levels, while having their support needs met. From 1 April 2019, the annual limit on individual Access to Work grants will be increased to £59,200.

Universal Credit: EEA Nationals

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of universal credit on the financial circumstances of long-term resident EEA Nationals who no longer have worker status.

Alok Sharma: We have not made such an assessment but we continue to monitor our policies.Within the 2016 EEA Immigration Regulations and 2013 Universal Credit Regulations, an EEA citizen who is no longer a worker or a self-employed person can retain the status of a worker whilst involuntarily unemployed. EEA citizens who are exercising a qualified right to reside, such as ‘retained worker’ status are eligible to access Universal Credit.A link to the regulations are below:http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/1052/madehttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2013/9780111531938/regulation/9

Department for Work and Pensions: Written Questions

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2019 to Question 206457 Universal Credit, when she plans to provide a substantive Answer to that Question.

Alok Sharma: I replied to the hon. member’s Question on 13 February 2019.

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2019 to Question 214626, Universal Credit, what proportion of started universal credit claims were never finished due to (a) failure to attend an initial interview, (b) claimant commitment not accepted, (c) the claim was withdrawn, (d) failure to attend a subsequent interview and (e) non-entitlement.

Alok Sharma: The table below provides the information requested for claimants who made a declaration in August 2018 and subsequently closed their claim before receiving a payment. MonthFailure to attend an initial interviewFailure to attend a subsequent interviewClaimant commitment not acceptedNon-entitlement * (this includes claims that were withdrawn – see notes **)Aug-1811%1%7%9% Notes: * Due to recent methodological changes in calculating reasons for claims closing the percentages provided here may not match to those provided previously. ** 4% of the total number of claims were withdrawn. Figures have been rounded to nearest 1%. Failure to attend an initial interview includes both initial appointments that have not been attended and cases closed due to failure to book initial interview. For case to be counted as failure to attend a subsequent interview the claimant must have attended at least one appointment and then had their case closed with the failed to attend closure reason.

Social Security Benefits: Merseyside

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in the (a) Birkenhead constituency and (b) Wirral local authority area have been affected by the household benefit cap in each year since 2013.

Justin Tomlinson: The table below shows the number of households capped under Housing Benefit and Universal Credit in the requested areas in November of each year. We are not able to provide statistics on the numbers capped in total in each calendar year, but have provided the same month in each year to allow year-on-year comparisons. Point-in-time Caseload: Number of households that had their Housing Benefit and Universal Credit capped.  Nov-13Nov-14Nov-15Nov-16Nov-17Nov-18Birkenhead Parliamentary ConstituencyHousing Benefit3425271111690Wirral Local AuthorityHousing Benefit88816041248195Universal Creditn/an/an/a....80Data Sources: DWP 100% Single Housing Benefit Extract, DWP Universal Credit Official Statistics Database and DWP Customer Information Service address file. The Housing Benefit caseload data is taken from DWP Stat Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/) whilst the Universal Credit caseload data is taken from the official statistics caseload tables, published on 7th Feb 2019 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-november-2018). Data on the number of capped households under Universal Credit by Parliamentary Constituency is not currently available on Stat Xplore or in the official statistics publication. Table Notes:Numbers less than 10 have been replaced with '..'’ and n/a indicates no recorded cases.Figures include households that have had their Housing Benefit and Universal Credit full service capped. Universal Credit full service is available to all claimant types but only in certain areas of the country at November 2018.Figures for Universal Credit may be revised in future publications, as Universal Credit awards may be retrospectively revised. More information on the revision of data can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/652170/universal-credit-statistics-background-methodology.pdf

Work Capability Assessment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place in the Library a copy of the safeguarding policy used by her Department's contractors in relation to work capability assessments.

Sarah Newton: A copy of the Centre for Health and Disability Assessment Service (CHDA) safeguarding policy will be placed in the Library in due course.

Personal Independence Payment: Middlesbrough

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time is for personal independence payment appeal tribunal dates in Middlesbrough constituency; and what steps he is taking to reduce the waiting time.

Sarah Newton: Information on the average waiting time to a first tribunal hearing is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Ministry of Justice publish statistics on the mean age of a case at disposal by tribunal venue. This is the average number of weeks from receipt in Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to the final outcome within the period. It will include cases cleared at hearing and cases cleared without a hearing which include strike outs, superseded and withdrawals prior to a hearing. An appeal may not necessarily be cleared at its first hearing. These statistics are available in the Tribunal Statistics CSV files, Tribunals and Gender Recognition Statistics Quarterly, July to September 2018 (Provisional) publication, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2018 The Ministry of Justice is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. In the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction, 225 new medical members have already been appointed and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been recruited. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from the fact that 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, a new digital service has recently been launched to enable speedier processing of appeals and provide a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-online-service-launched-for-pip-appeals

Poverty

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, entitled UK poverty 2018, that in-work poverty is increasing faster than unemployment.

Justin Tomlinson: Our evidence shows that work offers people the best opportunity to get out of poverty. A working-age adult living in a household where every adult is working is about 6 times less likely to be in relative poverty than one living in a household where nobody works. The majority of people in in-work poverty are with part-time work only, single earner couples, or those in full-time self-employment. Universal Credit addresses this by supporting full-time work through smooth incentives to increase hours, a general expectation that lone parents and partners should work, and generous childcare subsidies.

Social Security Benefits: Windrush Generation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of denying social security support to people affected by the Windrush scandal on their (a) rent arrears, (b) homelessness, and (c) personal debt.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP provides a fast track service which engages with the Home Office and other Government bodies to help individuals affected, to ensure that they are able to access the benefits and services to which they are entitled.DWP also has backdating provisions in place, where benefit decisions can be revised without limit where evidence shows that a previous benefit decision was reached without knowledge of a material fact, or based on incorrect information.The Government is committed to putting in place a compensation scheme for members of the Windrush generation who have suffered loss as a result of difficulties in demonstrating their lawful immigration status and has launched a public consultation. The Home Office will be publishing the formal Government response to the consultation shortly, which will also include more detailed rules and guidance about the scheme, and information about how eligible claimants can apply.

Pensioners: Poverty

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of pensioners living in poverty.

Guy Opperman: The Government is committed to action that helps to alleviate levels of pensioner poverty. In 2018/19 we will spend £121.5 billion on benefits for pensioners, including £97 billion on the State Pension for this year. Between 2010 and 2018, we will have increased the basic State Pension by £1,450 a year. In the early 1970s roughly 40% of pensioners were in poverty. Relative poverty after housing costs is now down to 16% - one of the lowest rates since comparable records began. The rates, and numbers, of pensioners in absolute poverty are all lower than 2010. Pension Credit was introduced in October 2003 explicitly to help tackle pensioner poverty and from April 2018, the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will be the equivalent of over £1,500 per year higher in cash terms for single people and over £2,400 per year higher in cash terms for couples than it was in 2010. We are committed to the Triple Lock for the remainder of this Parliament, guaranteeing that up to the full amounts of the basic and new State Pensions will rise by the highest of average earnings growth, price inflation, or 2.5% and in 2018/19 the increase was 3%. Between April 2010 and April 2018 the basic State Pension has risen by £660 a year more than if it had been just up-rated by earnings since April 2010. That is a rise of £1,450 a year in cash terms.

Universal Credit

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the allocation of funding for universal credit for the 2019-2020 financial year will reflect the fact that it will be a fifty-three week year.

Justin Tomlinson: No year contains 53 weeks. Departmental expenditure is set in advance to reflect anticipated delivery over the year.

Universal Credit

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether in assessing universal credit payments the Department deducts payments in lieu of holiday as part of temporary work.

Alok Sharma: Universal Credit seeks to take earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount of Universal Credit paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household each monthly assessment period, including any earnings reported by the employer during that assessment period.This includes earnings from employment that has ended which encompasses pay in lieu of notice and any accrued holiday pay, regardless of when they were paid or which month they relate to.This is in line with the principle that Universal Credit is designed to reflect the cash flow available to a household.

Department for Work and Pensions: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which EU agencies her Department plans to seek continued membership of after the UK has left the EU; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The Government is working to take forward the mandate from Parliament to seek legally binding changes to the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with the EU. When these changes have been finalised, the Government will seek parliamentary approval of the Agreement. Once the Withdrawal Agreement is approved, the terms of the UK’s participation in EU agencies and programmes during the Implementation Period, will be as set out in Article 128 of the Withdrawal Agreement. Work will also commence to discuss and shape our future relationship with the EU, which will build on the content of the Political Declaration. These future partnership discussions will determine the UK’s membership to EU agencies and programmes after the Implementation Period.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Food: Kent

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the food and beverage sector in Kent.

David Rutley: The Government works closely with the full spectrum of food and drink businesses across the country to promote growth, jobs, productivity and exports. As elsewhere, we engage with businesses in Kent, both directly and through trade associations and other businesses groups, to support them in their efforts to address economic challenges, understand and mitigate regulatory and compliance issues and prepare successfully for leaving the EU.

Flood Control: Fylde

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve flood prevention in rural Fylde.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency (EA) invests where it can provide the greatest benefit to people and property to better protect against the risk of flooding.The EA has recently completed the £3 million East Lytham Flood Alleviation Scheme which better protects 652 properties and a large rural area of South Fylde.The EA completed embankment improvements in 2018 south of Moss Side, with another embankment improvement just north of Moss Side planned for April this year.The EA also carries out routine maintenance across rural areas where they link urban areas such as the Main Drain and Liggard Brook catchments.In wider Fylde, the Fairhaven and Church Scar Coast Protection Scheme, which includes Granny's Bay, is currently in construction and due to be completed by 2020. The scheme has been funded by over £20 million of grant in aid and will better protect 2347 properties.Blackpool Council is also delivering the Starr Hill Sand Dunes project in partnership with Fylde Borough Council and Lancashire Wildlife Trust. The scheme will better protect 521 properties, whilst also enhancing the dune system through environmental improvements.The EA also attends the Fylde Making Space for Water Group and continues to actively work with partners to address flooding issues in Fylde.

Air Pollution

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) legislative and (b) non-legislative steps his Department is taking to tackle toxic air pollution.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government has adopted ambitious, legally binding international targets to reduce emissions of five of the most damaging air pollutants (fine particulate matter, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds) by 2020 and 2030. We have also put in place a £3.5 billion plan to reduce harmful emissions from road transport. Local authorities have been granted funding to undertake air quality improvement. We published our new and world leading Clean Air Strategy, which is focused on broader emissions beyond road transport and aims to cut air pollution and save lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised the Strategy as “an example for the rest of the world to follow”.Through the Clean Air Strategy, the Government has made a commitment to setting a new, ambitious, long term target to reduce people’s exposure to PM2.5, and will publish evidence early this year to examine what action would be needed to meet the WHO annual mean guideline limit of 10 µg/m3. The Government has also committed to introducing legislation to strengthen, simplify and update the legislative framework that applies at the local level in order to both enable and drive further reductions in local concentrations of air pollution. We have also outlined plans to enable greater local action to tackle domestic burning by updating the current Smoke Control Area framework and providing local authorities with more flexible, proportionate enforcement powers.

Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill (Draft)

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page four of the Seventh Special Report of Session 2017-19 of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, published on 23 April 2018, on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill 2017: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report, HC 984, how and when he plans to take forward the measures contained in the draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill 2017.

David Rutley: The Government remains committed to introducing legislative requirements relating to animal sentience and to increasing the maximum penalties for animal cruelty. The Government will ensure that any necessary changes required to UK law are made in a rigorous and comprehensive way to ensure animal sentience is recognised after we leave the EU. The Government intends to bring forward legislation as soon as Parliamentary time permits. In the meantime, Defra is continuing to engage closely with stakeholders to further refine the Government's proposals on animal sentience.

Birds of Prey

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many fledged hen harriers there were in 2018; how many of these birds were successfully fitted with tracking devices; and what estimate he has made of the number of birds still being tracked by satellite.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: During 2018 an estimated 34 hen harriers fledged in England. Natural England fixed satellite tags to five of these birds, of which two were still transmitting at the end of January 2019. Including birds tagged in previous years, Natural England is currently tracking four birds. The RSPB fitted tags to approximately 30 hen harriers across the UK during 2018. As of November 2018, over two thirds of these tags were transmitting.

Environment Protection: EU Grants and Loans

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2019 to Question 213461 on Environment Protection: EU Grants and Loans, whether his Department has plans to extend the ICF survey of EU LIFE funded projects to (a) the UK Overseas Territories and (b) EU BEST funded projects.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations his Department has received from the UK Overseas Territories on maintaining UK Overseas Territory eligibility in a replacement mechanism for EU LIFE funding.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra is considering future environment funding for the Overseas Territories and decisions will be taken as part of the next Spending Review. We have received a range of representations on this issue. There are no plans to extend the remit of the specific ICF survey to which the hon. Member refers.

Biodiversity: British Overseas Territories

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the level of funding required to meet the Aichi targets in the UK Overseas Territories.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), under which the Aichi biodiversity targets were adopted, has been extended to six UK Overseas Territories (OTs). As part of that, OTs are required to demonstrate that they have the capacity to work towards implementing the CBD, including having sufficient funds for the purposes of conservation and sustainable use in line with the Aichi targets. As such, no separate estimate has been made by Defra to determine the specific level of funding required to meet the targets across the UK OTs. However, in order to support OTs to implement a range of environmental multilateral environmental agreements, including the CBD, Defra has established funds such as Darwin Plus, which is the main source of funds for biodiversity in the OTs. Darwin Plus is also known as ‘The Overseas Territories Environment Climate Fund’. Defra contributed £1.85 million in 2015/16; £2 million in 2016/17; and £2 million in 2017/18.

Poultry

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the numbers of geese that migrated to the UK in 2018.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK’s Goose and Swan and Monitoring Programme assesses the number of geese which migrate here every year. The programme is jointly run by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Scottish Natural Heritage. Data for the winter season 2017-2018 is available on the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust website: https://monitoring.wwt.org.uk/our-work/goose-swan-monitoring-programme/. As the 2018/19 winter season has yet to finish, data for this season will not be available until late summer 2019.

Livestock: Animal Welfare

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taking to improve animal conditions on farms.

David Rutley: The Government is making good on our commitment to make the UK a world leader in the care and protection of animals as we leave the EU. We are planning to increase maximum penalties for animal cruelty from six months’ to five years’ imprisonment. We are updating our statutory welfare codes, starting with the publication of new meat chicken and laying hen codes last year. These codes strengthen guidance for keepers and owners of livestock on how to meet the needs of their animals and enhance their welfare. We are considering what more can be done to improve our already high animal welfare standards in the context of our future agricultural policy. In England, we intend to develop publicly-funded schemes for farmers to deliver animal welfare enhancements beyond our high regulatory baseline that are not sufficiently rewarded by the market.

Electric Vehicles: Batteries and Fuel Cells

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the recyclability of (a) batteries in electric vehicles and (b) fuel cells in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra has not made such an assessment. The Government has, however, supported and continues to support a number of projects related to the reuse and recycling of batteries and hydrogen fuel cells used in electric vehicles. Examples include the ‘ICoNiChem: recycling rare materials in electric vehicles’ study and the Fuel Cell Recovery Project. Electric vehicle batteries are banned from disposal to landfill and from incineration. Battery treatment facilities are required to meet certain recycling efficiencies under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009. These presently vary between 50% - 75% according to battery chemistry. There are also obligations on vehicle producers to ensure that their vehicles are recyclable, and to meet reuse, recycling and recovery targets at the end-of-life of their vehicles.

Air Pollution: Children

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect children from the effect of air pollution in (a) the London Borough of Southwark, (b) London and (c) England.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is fully committed to tackling air pollution. We have put in place a £3.5 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions, which includes £495 million for councils to improve air quality. On 14 January 2019 we published our new world leading Clean Air Strategy, which includes new and ambitious goals, legislation, investment and policies which will help us to clean up our air faster and more effectively. The World Health Organization has praised our Clean Air Strategy as “an example for the rest of the world to follow”.Local authorities have a duty to monitor and assess air quality and to take action to reduce pollution where these breach statutory limits. Defra’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions affecting schools, businesses and residents. Defra awarded a total of £2.4 million to local authorities in England from the 2017/18 air quality grant fund; £3.7 million was awarded in 2016/17; and £0.5 million in 2015/16. £3 million has been allocated for 2018/19.The Mayor is responsible for air quality in the capital and has reserve powers under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to reflect this. These powers enable the Mayor to take a broad range of actions, particularly in relation to transport.Measurements at stations in London on the national monitoring network show a general long term reduction in air pollution. The London Boroughs, including Southwark, carry out local air quality monitoring as part of the Local Air Quality Management process and produce annual reports on the status of air quality within the Borough area.

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to publish information on action taken against people in breach of regulations in horse racing with regard to the use of the whip.

David Rutley: Defra is keen to ensure that we uphold our high standards of animal welfare including in relation to horseracing. Irresponsible use of the whip is completely unacceptable. The British Horseracing Association (BHA) requires that whips be used responsibly and jockeys may only use the whip within certain strict rules. The BHA policy on the whip was drawn up in consultation with animal welfare groups, such as the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare and is published on the BHA website. The latest rules include a threshold on the number of times the whip can be used before racing stewards can consider an inquiry. If the rules are broken, the jockey may be banned from racing for a certain number of days depending on the seriousness of the offence. Defra is satisfied that the rules in place are sufficient to restrict and limit the use of the whip in horse racing.

Air Pollution

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of committing to legally binding air pollution targets that are in line with World Health Organisation air pollutant limit values; and what other initiatives his Department has planned to ensure that the number of children living in areas of air pollution are halved by 2025.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter so apart from the targets relating to emissions ceilings limits, which are already in statute, this answer applies to England only. In the Government’s Clean Air Strategy, published in January this year, we committed to setting a new, long-term target to reduce people’s exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). We will publish a report this year examining what action would need to be taken to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) PM2.5 annual mean guideline level of 10μg/m3. This will include analysis of the benefits to public health. We are the first major economy to set out ambitions based on the WHO’s PM2.5 targets, and our Clean Air Strategy was welcomed by the WHO’s Director General as “an example for the rest of the world to follow.” The Strategy sets out the measures we will introduce to reduce emissions of PM2.5, resulting in a decrease in concentrations everywhere in the UK. This reduction will result in a halving of the number of people living in areas above the WHO annual mean guideline level by 2025, compared with 2016.

Circuses: Wildlife

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications were received from travelling circuses to use wild animals in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019; and (i) how many animals and (ii) of which species were listed in each application.

David Rutley: (a) In 2018 there were two separate applications. The first license application was for a total of five animals and included the following stocklist: One zebra (equus burchelli chapmani)Two camels (camelus bactrianus)Two reindeer (rangifer tarandus)The second license application was for a total of fourteen animals and included the following stocklist: One camel (camelus bactrianus)Four reindeer (rangifer tarandus)One fox (vulpes vulpes)Three raccoons (procyon lotor)Three zebras (equus burchelli chapmani)One zebu (bos indicus)One blue and gold macaw (ara ararauna)(b) In 2019 there has been one application to date. This license application was for five animals and included the following stock list: One zebra (equus burchelli chapmani)Two camels (camelus bactrianus)Two reindeer (rangifer tarandus)

Circuses: Animal Welfare

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he will bring forward legislative proposals to end the use of wild animals in circuses in England; and what form that legislation will take.

David Rutley: I refer the honourable member to the answer given to the honourable member for Oxford West and Abingdon, Layla Moran, on 16 October 2018 to PQ 176633.

Ramsgate Port: Seaborne Freight

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 15 January 2019 to Question 207205 on Ramsgate Port: Dredging, whether the Marine Management Organisation has granted a license to Seaborne Freight for operation in Ramsgate.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Marine Management Organisation has not issued a marine licence to Seaborne Freight for works relating to activity within the Port of Ramsgate.

Ramsgate Port: Dredging

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 15 January 2019 to Question 207205 on dredging of the Port of Ramsgate, whether Natural England were informed of the Environmental Impact Assessment conducted by the Port of Ramsgate prior to the dredging of the port as part of contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: From discussions with the Port of Ramsgate and its owner, Thanet District Council, Natural England (NE) understands that the dredging undertaken at the start of this year is considered to be maintenance dredging and as such is covered by previous environmental assessments.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which EU agencies his Department plans to seek continued membership of after the UK has left the EU; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley: During the Implementation Period, the terms of the UK’s participation in EU agencies and bodies will be as set out in Article 128 of the Withdrawal Agreement. After we leave the European Union, we are committed to maintaining a close and collaborative relationship with the EU. Our future partnership is a matter for the next phase of negotiations and we look forward to constructive discussions with the EU.

Home Office

Armed Conflict: Capital Punishment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Security and Economic Crime, of 11 October 2018, Official report, column 292 on foreign fighters and the death penalty, in which parliamentary term the second case took place.

Mr Ben Wallace: I can confirm that the second case took place post 2010. Decisions to accede to Mutual Legal Assistance requests are taken on a case by case basis. Due to the potential to harm on-going criminal investigations or future prosecutions, and the confidentiality attached to mutual legal assistance, it would not be appropriate to share further information.

Home Office: Written Questions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason his Department has not answered Question 181236 on Armed Conflict: Capital Punishment, asked on 18 October 2018.

Mr Ben Wallace: The reponse for UIN 181326 was given on the 14th February 2019.

Home Office: Written Questions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has plans to publish the answer to Question 181236 tabled on 18 October 2018 and Question 194671 tabled on 22 November 2018 on Armed Conflict: Capital Punishment before the Christmas recess.

Mr Ben Wallace: The responses for UIN 181236 and 194671 were given on the 14th February 2019.

Children: Protection

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of child protection procedures on families affected by myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Victoria Atkins: The Department for Education has made no recent assessments of the impact of child protection procedures on families affected by myalgic encephalomyelitis.Local authorities must undertake enquiries if they believe a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm and decide if any action must be taken under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) sets out the parameters and principles of high quality child protection assessments and procedures. The local authority is under a duty to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare and child protection decisions are based on the professional judgement of social workers and the circumstances of the individual child. The Equality Act 2010 is clear that all institutions, including local authorities, cannot discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability.The Government is undertaking wide-ranging reforms to improve the quality of social work practice and decision-making, including through assessment and accreditation against Knowledge and Skills Statements, which are also the post qualifying standards for child and family social work.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, from which local authorities he has received written correspondence since August 2018 indicating that they may withdraw from the asylum dispersal scheme.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office has received a number of letters from Local Authorities relating to asylum dispersal and is working closely with a wide range of local authorities to increase the number of areas across the UK that agree to accommodate and support people seeking protection.We take a coordinated approach to the delivery of the various resettlement and asylum schemes and engage through the Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships to consider the impact on communities and local services so that adjustments can be made where appropriate. Participation in asylum dispersal is subject to discussion and agreement with individual local authorities and there is no target level of participation - every local authority is encouraged to contribute.

Asylum: Contracts

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he provided existing asylum dispersal local authorities with details of the proposed contracts for asylum accommodation beyond the Statement of Requirements in advance of those contracts being signed and announced in January 2019.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office openly shared ‘schedule 2’, the statement of requirements, and ‘schedule 23’, procurement consultation, of the accommodation and sup-port and AIRE contracts, which contains the information most pertinent to Local Authorities.Prior to both contract award and signature we invited Regional Strategic Mi-gration Partnerships to engage with Local Authorities to identify those sched-ules within the contract set of most interest to them.As part of the procurement process it is essential that the contracting authori-ty adheres to the procurement regulation and protect the integrity of the pro-cess. For this reason, additional documents were not openly shared with stakeholders.We will continue to engage with Local Authorities through the Regional Stra-tegic Migration Partnerships to listen to and act in response to concerns raised, ensuring swift and appropriate action.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with which local authorities did his Department's contract compliance team conduct joint inspections of asylum accommodation in 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not routinely publish data on its inspection activity.Local Authorities are actively engaged in the inspection and monitoring of properties used by asylum seekers and we welcome their input and expertise. In the first instance we expect Providers to develop close working relationships with Local Authorities on property standards and in particular they must com-ply with local authority licensing and regulation regimes. Where licences are applicable and issued the Local Authority can and do inspect property stand-ards to ensure they comply.We encourage our Providers to take a proactive role in engaging Local Author-ities on property standards and would expect that in the first instance that Pro-viders and local authorities inspect jointly where that is required. This has in-cluded joint inspections with over 25 Local Authorities over the last 12 months.The offer to inspect jointly with UKVI or the accommodation provider is open to all Local Authority areas though we cannot compel them to do so. If Local Au-thorities feel they do not have sufficient resource to inspect with UKVI, or the accommodation Provider, then the Home Office is committed to using its re-source to inspect areas of concern and feedback our findings.As part of our Assurance Plan, we have offered a pilot to three Local Authority areas in the Yorkshire and Humberside region. We will evaluate their success and roll out any future programmes to all Local Authorities who wish to take us up on that offer.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of his Department operating the asylum dispersal scheme in each year since 2000.

Caroline Nokes: In recent correspondence with both the Home Secretary and Minister, the Home Office committed to conducting a joint review with Local authorities to ascertain cost and funding. The Home Office is consulting with Local Authori-ties on this and other subjects, but no estimate of cost has yet been made.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the cost to local authorities of participating in the asylum dispersal scheme in each year since 2000.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office are engaging closely with Local Authority Chief Executives on a continuous basis to assess the costs associated with being a dispersal ar-ea. As recently outlined in correspondence between Ministers and Local Au-thorities, it has been agreed that this joint review will be co-designed and co-produced by Local Authorities and the Home Office.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding his Department allocated to local authorities for their participation in the asylum dispersal scheme in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: There are no current plans to directly fund local authorities that are dispersal areas. The Providers of accommodation will continue to contribute to Local Authority funds through the payment of council tax, which in FY17/18 contributed over £10m. In addition, the Ministry for Housing, Local Government and Communities has provided funding of £1.75m to Local Authorities in England, through the Controlling Migration Fund, for the provision of Local Authority Asylum Support Liaison Officers.The Home Office are engaging closely with Local Authority Chief Executives on a continuous basis to assess the costs associated with being a dispersal area. As recently outlined in correspondence between Ministers and Local Authorities, it has been agreed that this joint review will be co-designed and co-produced by Local Authorities and the Home Office.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of asylum accommodation in each COMPASS region is in the (a) social housing, (b) registered social landlord and (c) private sector.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not publish this data. The Home Office does publish quarterly figures on the number of asylum seekers housed in dispersed ac-commodation, including under Section 95, by local authority in the Immigra-tion Statistics release, in table as_16q and 17q in volume 4 of the Asylum da-ta tables. These are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018-data-tables

Compass Contracts: Landlords and Letting Agents

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many landlords or letting agents receiving public monies under the COMPASS asylum accommodation contracts have received a (a) civil penalty notice and (b) banning order under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 since April 2017; and how many landlords or letting agents have been prosecuted under the Housing Act 2004 since September 2012.

Caroline Nokes: The government does not pay private landlords for accommodating asylum seekers as there is no direct contractual relationship between the Home Office and private landlords. Accommodation is provided through third party accommodation providers under the COMPASS contracts.

Deportation: Commonwealth

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many flights have been chartered for (a) removals, (b) deportations and (c) mixed removals and deportations to Commonwealth countries scheduled for May 2019.

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many flights have been chartered for (a) removals, (b) deportations and (c) mixed removals and deportations to Commonwealth countries scheduled for June 2019.

Caroline Nokes: For operational reasons, the Home Office does not disclose details of the returns charter flight programme.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to commission an independent review of the experience of asylum seekers in asylum accommodation.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Affairs Committee, in its recent report, recommended that the Home Office commission an independent review of the experience of asylum seekers in asylum accommodation.The Government is considering its response to the report and will respond in full shortly.The Home Office is however committed to improving the effective capture and analysis of Customer Insight to drive improvements within asylum ac-commodation.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the existing 1:200 dispersal ratio in the COMPASS asylum accommodation arrangements will be applied at local authority ward level.

Caroline Nokes: The 1:200 limit generally applies to the whole of a dispersal area and has not historically been applied to individual wards. Instead the Home Office works on an individual basis with Local Authorities to address concerns around population clusters in specific wards.In addition the COMPASS Providers must consult Local Authorities on all new properties procured for use on the COMPASS Contracts.Where there is clear evidence that properties are not suitable for use in the asylum dispersal scheme, or evidence that a cluster in a specific ward is no longer sustainable then the Home Office would take action to address this, including where necessary halting procurement or dispersal.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make it his policy to consult with local authorities before making use of the powers under section 100 and section 101 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 that require a (a) local authority and (b) registered social landlord to assist or designate part of their housing for the purposes of asylum accommodation.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office has no plans to use the powers described under section 100 and section 101 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 that require a (a) local authority and (b) registered social landlord to assist or designate part of their housing for the purposes of asylum accommodation.The Home Office is working closely with a wide range of local authorities to increase the number of areas across the UK that agree to accommodate and support people seeking protection. We take a coordinated approach to the delivery of the various resettlement and asylum schemes and engage through the Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships to consider the impact on communities and local services so that adjustments can be made where appropriate. Participation in asylum dispersal is subject to discussion and agreement with individual local authorities and there is no target level of participation - every local authority is encouraged to contribute.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many local authorities that agreed to participate in asylum dispersal subsequently withdrew that agreement before any asylum seeker was accommodated since January 2017.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office is working closely with a wide range of local authorities to increase the number of areas across the UK that agree to accommodate and support people seeking protection. We take a coordinated approach to the delivery of the various resettlement and asylum schemes and engage through the Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships to consider the impact on communities and local services so that adjustments can be made where appropriate. Participation in asylum dispersal is subject to discussion and agreement with individual local authorities and there is no target level of participation - every local authority is encouraged to contribute and no local authorities have withdrawn from participating since January 2017.

NHS: Recruitment

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the NHS is able to recruit nurses from the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is committed to developing a future borders and immigra-tion system that will cater for all sectors of the UK, including for those who make a very valuable contribution to our NHS.On 19 December, we published an immigration White Paper on the UK’s future skills-based immigration system, intended to provide for a single sys-tem applicable to both EU and non-EU nationals, to be implemented after 2021. In this, we have proposed a new skilled worker route, which will not be capped, removed the requirement for employers to undertake a Resi-dent Labour Market Test for high skilled roles and committed to providing a simpler and more streamlined sponsorship system.As we have been clear, the White Paper provides the basis for a national conversation. We are launching an extensive 12-month programme of engagement with UK-wide businesses and organisations on key proposals contained in the White Paper before making final policy decisions on these issues.In the meantime, we have been clear that we want all EU nationals, including those working in the NHS, to stay in the UK after we leave. And for those making an important contribution from outside of the EU, we have implemented a number of preferential provisions within the current system specifically for nurses. This includes a change we made last July to exempt all non-EEA overseas nurses and all doctors needed in the UK from the Tier 2 annual cap, allowing them to be recruited into critical roles in the NHS without a restriction on their numbers.

Undocumented Migrants: Boats

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants entering the UK illegally in small boats were detected in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Secretary delivered a statement to Parliament providing the following figures relating to 2018 arrival.Over 500 migrants - mostly Iranian - attempted to travel to the UK on small vessels in 2018. 80% of them attempted this in the last three months of the year. Around 40% of the attempts were either disrupted by French law enforcement or returned to France via French agencies.

Undocumented Migrants: Boats

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of migrants entering the UK illegally in small  boats in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Secretary delivered a statement to Parliament providing the following figures relating to 2018 arrival.Over 500 migrants - mostly Iranian - attempted to travel to the UK on small vessels in 2018. 80% of them attempted this in the last three months of the year. Around 40% of the attempts were either disrupted by French law enforcement or returned to France via French agencies.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have downloaded the EU Exit: ID Document Check app.

Caroline Nokes: EU citizens make a huge contribution to our economy and society, and we want them to stay. The EU Settlement Scheme enables them to do so.The scheme opened on a trial basis at the end of August and the second phase of live testing ended on 21 December. In light of the positive progress, we commenced the wider public implementation of the scheme on 21 Janu-ary. The ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app, which is publicly available from the Google Play Store, has had over 100,000 downloads since 15 November when it was made available. Thousands of EU citizens have successfully ap-plied using the ‘EU Exit: Identity Document Check’ app since then. The app is free to download, and we do not expect everyone who does so to be a poten-tial applicant.The beta test phases have provided us with a useful opportunity to prove var-ious elements of the scheme functionality and processes, and we will continue to improve the system before the scheme fully opens by 30 March. Once the system is fully open, there will be over 50 locations across the UK where ap-plicants can have their identity document scanned. Applicants will also be able to post identity documents to the Home Office to be checked and returned quickly.

Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Scheme: Weather

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether bad weather payments will be available to workers under the pilot Seasonal Agricultural Scheme where weather conditions cause work to be unavailable or of limited availability during the period of migrants' stay.

Caroline Nokes: The operators of the Seasonal Workers Pilot must ensure that the payment of overseas workers conforms with all relevant UK and EU legislation, including the National Minimum Wage Act or the relevant Agricultural Wages Order where such an order applies.

Pornography: Mental Health

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of links between the consumption of pornography and mental health.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has no specific remit in respect of consumption of pornography and its links to mental health and therefore has not made any such assessment.

Home Office: Official Engagements

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will list his engagements for Monday 4 February 2019.

Victoria Atkins: It is not Home Office policy to release detailed accounts of the Home Secretary’s diary. We do however release quarterly transparency data that details their external meetings, which can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/home-office-ministers-hospitality-data

Immigration: Publications

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the next edition of the publication entitled Life In The United Kingdom: A Guide For New Residents is due to be published.

Caroline Nokes: Regular updates are made to the handbook to ensure the content remains factually correct. There is no planned date for publishing an updated edition.

Immigration: Appeals

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department sets targets for the number of final immigration court appeals brought against rulings allowing (a) asylum seekers and (b) other migrants to stay in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: All allowed appeals are considered on their merits. Determinations are only appealed where the Home Office considers there is an error of law and strong grounds that the appeal would be dismissed if the error had not been made.

Immigration: Appeals

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the costs to the public purse of each appeal by his Department to the Upper Tribunal against rulings allowing asylum seekers and other migrants to remain in the UK in each of the last three years.

Caroline Nokes: The decision to challenge an allowed appeal is taken by the Specialist Appeals Team, a team within UKVI. Determinations are only appealed where the Home Office considers there is an error of law and strong grounds the appeal would be dismissed if the error had not been made.

Immigration: EEA Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EEA nationals and their family members who are granted pre-settled status will have restricted access to healthcare and public funds as defined under paragraph six of the Immigration Rules (a) before and (b) after 31 December 2020 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EEA nationals and their family members who are granted settled status will have restricted access to healthcare and public funds as defined under paragraph six of the Immigration Rules (a) before and (b) after 31 December 2020 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EEA nationals and their family members who are granted (a) settled status and (b) pre-settled status will have restricted access to public funds (i) before and (ii) after 31 December 2020 in the event that the UK leaves the EU under the terms of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EEA nationals and their family members who arrive in the UK after 29 March 2019 will have access to healthcare and public funds as defined under paragraph six of the Immigration Rules in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Caroline Nokes: In both a deal and no deal scenario, EEA nationals and their family mem-bers who obtain pre-settled status will have the same access to healthcare and public funds as they do now. Those who obtain settled status will be able to access healthcare and public funds on an equal basis with compa-rable UK nationals. These entitlements will not change after 31 December 2020 but will be subject to any future domestic policy changes which apply to UK nationals.In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 29 March 2019, there will be a transition period before the future skills-based immigration system begins in January 2021. In due course we will set out further infor-mation about access to healthcare and public funds for EEA nationals and their family members who arrive in the UK during this period.

Home Office: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value of contracts held by his Department with (a) Deloitte, (b) Slaughter and May and (c) Mott MacDonald is in the last two years.

Victoria Atkins: The total value of contracts, active during the last 2 years, with the following suppliers are:a) Deloitte - £54.4mb) Slaughter and May - £0c) Mott MacDonald - £2.4m

Immigration: Iran

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Leave to Remain from citizens of Iran were (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful; and how many of those unsuccessful applications were as a result of not being able to prove Christian faith for each year since 2012.

Caroline Nokes: The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).The number of Iranians who have claimed asylum in the UK up to Quarter 3 2018 (year ending Sept 18) and those who have been granted leave (Asylum/HP/ELR/other) can be found at the published Immigration Statistics, Asylum Data Tables Volume 1, table as_01_q:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018/list-of-tables#asylumWe cannot provide data on the reasons why the asylum claims were made i.e. the Convention reason, as the basis of a person’s asylum claim is recorded on their individual Home Office file, but not in a way that can be easily aggregated, so we cannot provide figures on how many claims were unsuccessful as a result of not being able to prove Christian faith. As such, this information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost, because it would require a manual search through individual records.

Asylum: Housing

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much notice an asylum accommodation provider is required to provide to a resident in advance of attending at that resident's address.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures or safeguards are in place in relation to the attendance by an asylum accommodation provider at the property of one of its residents.

Caroline Nokes: Each asylum accommodation service provider is required to provide 5 days notice before inspecting a property.Accommodation providers are contractually required to take account of any particular circumstances and vulnerability of those that they accommodate and ensure that safeguards are in place. Service users are fully briefed, in a language they will understand, about what will happen at an inspection and during any maintenance work. They are also provided with a written copy of this information.The statement of Requirements for the services delivered by the accommo-dation providers can be found at;https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/503107/

Immigrants: Employment

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individuals who have the right to work in the UK have no recourse to public funds.

Caroline Nokes: There are a number of forms of leave that can be granted which give the right to work in the UK but with no recourse to public funds. This is underpinned by Part 5A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.We do not routinely record information centrally on individuals who have the right to work in the UK without recourse to public funds.

Deportation: Zimbabwe

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Zimbabwe in relation to the deportation of Zimbabwean nationals.

Caroline Nokes: All asylum and human rights applications from Zimbabwean nationals are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. Each individual assessment is made against the background of the latest available country of origin information and any relevant caselaw.The Country Policy and Information Note Zimbabwe: Opposition to the government published in April 2018 (available on Gov.uk) outlines our position. We are aware of the current situation in Zimbabwe and we are keeping it under review, but a state of unrest is not in itself a ground for asylum, although each case must be considered on its own facts.Where a decision has been made that a person does not require international protection, removal is only enforced when we and the courts conclude that it is safe to do so, with a safe route of return.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Alternative Arrangements Working Group

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, under which section of the Civil Service Code is civil service support to the Alternative Arrangements Working Group permissible.

Stephen Barclay: Ministers, including myself, have been meeting a wide range of MPs in various groups and other stakeholders to discuss the Government’s approach to EU Exit. This has included discussion of alternative arrangements to the backstop, following Parliament’s indication of support for such a position.The Civil Service supports the Government in developing and implementing its policies. In this context, it is proper for civil servants to support Ministers in conducting these meetings. No support has been extended to backbench MPs, or other individuals or groups outwith Government.

Treasury

Tax Avoidance

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in relation to the Loan Charge 2019, whether Employment Benefit Trust schemes have always been considered defective by HMRC; and what the evidential basis is for the requirement to bring forward legislative proposals to enable HMRC to collect tax on loans issued since 1999.

Mel Stride: Employment Benefit Trusts (EBTs) are often used as third parties in Disguised Remuneration (DR) schemes. DR schemes are contrived avoidance arrangements that pay loans in place of ordinary remuneration, with the sole purpose of avoiding income tax and National Insurance contributions. It is the view of HMRC and the Courts that these types of arrangements have never been effective and tax was always due. HMRC has consistently challenged their use and publicised the risks of trying to avoid tax. They have opened and settled thousands of enquiries into the use of DR schemes, and successfully litigated a number of cases in the courts. The most well-known judgement was the unanimous Supreme Court decision in favour of HMRC against Rangers Football Club.HMRC is working hard to help individuals get out of tax avoidance for good and is encouraging anyone who is concerned about their ability to pay what they owe, to contact them as soon as possible to discuss their position. In November 2017, HMRC set up a dedicated helpline for those wanting to settle their avoidance scheme use, and discuss payment options. HMRC will work with all individuals to reach a manageable and sustainable payment plan wherever possible. Since the announcement of the 2019 loan charge at Budget 2016, HMRC has now agreed settlements on disguised remuneration schemes with employers and individuals totalling over £1 billion. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) liabilities fall on the employer in the first instance. The charge on DR loans does not change this principle and the employee will only be liable where the amount cannot reasonably be collected from the employer, such as where the employer is offshore or no longer exists. Around 85% of the settlement yield since 2016 is from employers, with less than 15% from individuals. HMRC has also introduced a simplified process for those who choose to settle their use of DR avoidance schemes before the loan charge arises. DR scheme users who currently have an income of less than £50,000 and are no longer engaging in tax avoidance can automatically agree a payment plan of up to five years without the need to give HMRC any information about their income and assets. This arrangement has been extended to 7 years for scheme users who have an income of less than £30,000.

Chocolate: Fairtrade Initiative

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of imported chocolate is Fairtrade.

Mel Stride: There is no separate commodity code for Fairtrade chocolate in the UK integrated tariff. The information requested is therefore not available.

Revenue and Customs: Overseas Aid

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2019, to Question 208845 on Revenue and Customs: Overseas Aid, what that money was spent on.

Mel Stride: Official Development Assistance spend by HMRC supports the revenue authorities of developing countries to provide economic integration, stability and growth by: improving their tax and customs administration functions; andimproving their tax and customs policies to increase revenue collection.

Cider: Excise Duties

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with the National Association of Cider Makers on duty thresholds for craft cider makers.

Robert Jenrick: Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss alcohol duty and related issues. The Exchequer Secretary met with NACM and the member for North Herefordshire in advance of the budget to discuss the cider industry.  Details of ministerial meetings can be found at this link on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Cider: Excise Duties

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal support his Department is providing to promote the growth of craft cider makers.

Robert Jenrick: The Chancellor announced a freeze in duty on most ciders at Autumn Budget 2018 for the second successive budget. The government keeps all taxes under review at fiscal events, and we will consider this issue carefully as part of future Budget processes.

Child Benefit

Laura Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to increase the £50,000 earnings limit in respect of the High income benefit charge.

Elizabeth Truss: The adjusted net income threshold above which an individual becomes liable for the HICBC is £50,000. The government believes this is currently the correct level for the threshold, but as with all elements of tax policy this remains under review.

EU Budget

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the United Kingdom has contributed to the EU budget in the last 10 years.

Elizabeth Truss: The EU annually publish a financial report, which details the levels of revenue and expenditure, received and executed by the EU, relative to Member States. Between 2008 and 2017, the UK has contributed €148 billion to the annual EU budget, and received €68 billion in receipts to both the public and private sector.Additionally, HM Treasury produce an annual European Finances Statement which details the UK’s contribution to the EU over the past year. While the OBR produce an independent forecast for annual contributions to the EU.

Public Expenditure: Dover

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total Government spend per person in the Dover district local authority area has been in each year between 2009 and 2018.

Elizabeth Truss: HM Treasury does not collect expenditure information on total government spend at a local authority level. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government produce local government expenditure statistics, which is part of total government spend. These statistics, along with population statistics are available at the following links: Revenue financing and expenditure:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing Capital expenditure, receipts and financing:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-capital-expenditure-receipts-and-financing Population statistics at local level:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland

Public Expenditure: Kent

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of Government funding per head in the Kent County Council local authority area in each year since 2009.

Elizabeth Truss: HM Treasury does not collect total government funding information per head at the local authority level. Local government funding information is available via statistics published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and through the local government settlement, which is part of total government spend. Local government finance statistics and population statistics are available at the following links: Revenue financing and expenditure:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing Capital expenditure, receipts and financing:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-capital-expenditure-receipts-and-financing Population statistics at local level:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland

Treasury: Brexit

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials from his Department have been seconded from their primary role to make preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: The department regularly reprioritises work in line with its changing priorities as part of its dynamic and flexible resourcing model. Many staff will work both on EU Exit and other priorities. Because of this it is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the number of civil servants involved solely in contingency planning for ‘No Deal’, at any one time.

Debts: Repayments

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including debts which can be deducted directly from universal credit in the statutory Breathing Space scheme.

John Glen: The Government published a consultation on a single policy proposal for the breathing space scheme in October 2018. The consultation proposed that the widest range of an individual’s personal debts as possible would be included in the scheme. The consultation closed on 29 January and the Government intends to confirm its approach to these aspects of the scheme in its response.

Police: Pay

Louise Haigh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library the letter from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the Chair of the Police Remuneration Review Body on the public sector pay round 2019-20.

Elizabeth Truss: I did not write to the Chair of the Police Remuneration Review Body ahead of the 2019/20 pay round. The Home Secretary’s remit letter was published on 10 January 2019.

Loans: Republic of Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Republic of Ireland is on schedule to repay its loan from the UK  by March 2021.

John Glen: I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the most recent statutory report which the Treasury provided to Parliament as required by Section 2 of the Loans to Ireland Act 2010 and which covers the period 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2018. The report was laid in Parliament on 15 October 2018 and is available in the Printed Paper Office. This report shows, in Table 2.A, that the remaining principal repayments are due in tranches from 15 April 2019 until 26 March 2021. The UK has received interest payments since the disbursement of the loan, listed in Table 2.B. The timetable for repayment set out in the report remains unchanged and the UK Government expect the repayment of the bilateral loan to Ireland on time and in full.

Asset Protection Scheme

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to state, what the proportion of (a) incentive and (b) bonus components was of remuneration for Asset Protection Scheme personnel and senior executives, evaluated against their performance targets between 2009 and 2012; and which Minister authorised those payments.

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will (a) list the people who composed the Senior Oversight Committee for the Asset Protection Agency between 2009-2012 and (b) set out (i) the process by which and (ii) by whom those people were appointed.

John Glen: The Asset Protection Agency (APA) was set up by the Government in 2009 to manage the Asset Protection Scheme (APS). The APA supported financial stability and the taxpayers’ interest by protecting financial institutions participating in the APS against exceptional credit losses on high-risk assets.  An APA Remuneration Committee advised the Chief Executive and Advisory Board on remuneration for APA staff, and advised HM Treasury on remuneration for the Chief Executive. Performance awards were made based on individual performance appraisals, which were undertaken in line with Civil Service appraisal and performance award policies. Further information on remuneration is publicly available in the APA Annual Report and Accounts here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130129110533/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/apa.htm. The HMT Operations Committee approved the pay principles to be adopted in setting salary ranges for APA staff. Remuneration packages for senior APA staff were approved by the Cabinet Office. The Senior Oversight Committee was established by RBS in compliance with the APS governance and oversight conditions. The Committee consisted of RBS senior management personnel and a non-executive director of RBS. The APA leadership team attended Committee meetings as non-voting observers.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to review the eligibility criteria for rural fuel duty rebate scheme.

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the locations are of the refineries used to determine the eligibility for support under the rural fuel duty rebate scheme of (a) Ceredigion and (b) Wales.

Robert Jenrick: The government has no current plans to make changes to the rural fuel rebate scheme. Amendments to the scheme would require further state aid approval.Sourcing fuel is a commercial decision for fuel retailers, but the two closest refineries serving Wales are Pembroke Valero and Stanlow Essar. Being at least 100 miles by road from the nearest refinery is one of the selection criteria used to establish eligible areas, the others being pump price, and population density.

Tax Avoidance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the Government has not put back the Loan Charge settlement date while its review of that policy is ongoing.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the outcome of his Loan Charge review.

Mel Stride: Disguised Remuneration (DR) schemes are contrived arrangements that pay loans in place of ordinary remuneration with the sole purpose of avoiding income tax and National Insurance contributions. HMRC is working hard to help individuals get out of tax avoidance for good and is encouraging anyone who is concerned about their ability to pay what they owe, to contact them as soon as possible to discuss their position. In November 2017, HMRC set up a dedicated helpline for those wanting to settle their avoidance scheme use, and discuss payment options. HMRC will work with all individuals to reach a manageable and sustainable payment plan wherever possible. Since the announcement of the 2019 loan charge at Budget 2016, HMRC has now agreed settlements on disguised remuneration schemes with employers and individuals totalling over £1 billion. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) liabilities fall on the employer in the first instance. The charge on DR loans does not change this principle and the employee will only be liable where the amount cannot reasonably be collected from the employer, such as where the employer is offshore or no longer exists. Around 85% of the settlement yield since 2016 is from employers, with less than 15% from individuals. HMRC has also introduced a simplified process for those who choose to settle their use of DR avoidance schemes before the loan charge arises. DR scheme users who currently have an income of less than £50,000 and are no longer engaging in tax avoidance can automatically agree a payment plan of up to five years without the need to give HMRC any information about their income and assets. This arrangement has been extended to 7 years for scheme users who have an income of less than £30,000. The Government chose to accept New Clause 26, now Clause 95, during the passage of the Finance Bill introduced by a cross party group. As set out by the Clause, the Government will lay a report no later than 30 March 2019. The report will review the effect of changes made to the time limits for recovery or assessment where tax loss arises in relation to offshore tax, and compare these with other legislation including the charge on disguised remuneration loans. The charge on disguised remuneration loans will apply to disguised remuneration loan balances on 5 April 2019.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Tourism: Kent

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase tourism in (a) Kent and (b) Medway.

Michael Ellis: The Discover England Fund is a £40m fund aimed at increasing the tourism offer in England, creating innovate, bookable experiences for targeted international markets. The “Culture Coasting, Garden and Gourmet” and the “US Connections” projects are examples of projects in the Kent and Medway area. Kent is also used in VisitBritain’s marketing campaigns, including their #MyMicroGap domestic campaign. In addition to this, suppliers in the Medway area are provided on the VisitBritain trade website for bookings. The Government has entered into formal negotiations on the proposed Tourism Sector Deal. The proposed Sector Deal aims to improve productivity in the tourism sector. Any businesses with an interest is invited to contact Steve Ridgway of VisitBritain who is representing the Tourism Industry in our discussions.

Facebook: Data Protection

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the decision by Germany to block Facebook from merging data collected from its social platforms and third-party websites without voluntary user consent; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: No assessment has been made on the specific decision by Germany to block Facebook from merging data collected from its social platforms and third-party websites without voluntary user consent.It is essential that people are confident their personal data will be protected and used in an appropriate way. The Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR is in place to ensure that companies who collect and use data do so appropriately with an appropriate legal basis.In August 2016, the Information Commissioner investigated whether WhatsApp could legally share users’ data with Facebook. WhatsApp signed a public commitment not to share personal data with Facebook until the data protection concerns raised by the ICO were addressed. This agreement is available on the ICO's website.

Cybercrime

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2019 to Question 214617 on Cybercrime, for what reason that Answer does not contain information on ministerial discussions with EU counterparts on the UK's continued relationship with the EU on cyber-related matters in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Margot James: The UK and the EU have worked intensively together to get the best deal for businesses and citizens. Discussions with the EU on the UK’s continued relationship on cyber-related matters have been focused on achieving this and that is why the Political Declaration includes a commitment to promote security and stability in cyberspace through increased international cooperation. However, in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the absence of this formal agreement does not affect the fact that it is still in our collective interest to continue to work closely on cyber-related matters and does not prevent a continued close relationship.

Third Sector

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 37 of the Government's Civil Society Strategy published in August 2018, what work his Department has carried out with Nesta, Osca and the Big Lottery Fund on the Good Help programme.

Mims Davies: Government is fully committed to the Civil Society Strategy: it is the beginning of an ambitious, evolving work programme to help build a strong society.As part of this, DCMS is supporting Good Help as a strategic partner. This includes brokering relationships with other government departments, and supporting Nesta, Osca and the National Lottery Community Fund on developing their work on Good Help in statutory services as part of the Good Help Advisory Board. We are not providing funding, but are acting in a facilitating role.In 2018 events were held across the UK with practitioners, funders and people who use services to agree what the Good Help programme should focus on. Now Osca delivery partners (Nesta and Osca staff) are working with commissioners, policy officials and foundations to formally design the programme.

Third Sector

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 37 of the Government's Civil Society Strategy published in August 2018, what plans his Department has to support and encourage the sustainability and spread of community organising in the longer term will; and if he will publish those plans.

Mims Davies: Government is fully committed to the Civil Society Strategy: it is the beginning of an ambitious, evolving work programme to help build a strong society. As part of this, and following the success of the original Community Organisers Programme (2011-2015), we launched the Community Organisers Expansion Programme in early 2017. This programme will train 3,500 more individuals in community organising, across England, by March 2020.We are currently in discussions with Community Organisers Ltd to determine how best to support the long term sustainability of the training programme, the National Academy of Community Organising and the network of community organisers, so that as many individuals and communities as possible can benefit from community organising training.

Third Sector

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 41 of the Government's Civil Society Strategy published in August 2018, what progress has been made by his Department on designing the £90 million dormant accounts funding to help young people facing barriers to work to reach their full potential.

Mims Davies: The Government is fully committed to the Civil Society Strategy. It is the beginning of an ambitious, evolving work programme to build a stronger society.Removing the barriers that can make it harder for some young people to enter work and reach their full potential is vital to the future prosperity and productivity of our society. As part of the Civil Society Strategy, the Government committed to working with the National Lottery Community Fund to allocate £90 million from dormant bank accounts to a new, independent organisation to tackle this issue. The Founding Chair of this new organisation is being appointed by a nomination panel independent of government, and their decision will be announced in due course.While this organisation is being set up, the National Lottery Community Fund are allocating £1.2m of the £90m dormant accounts funding to three key areas facing particular challenges in their levels of youth unemployment. Funding will support small, grassroot youth organisations to build their capacity and strengthen local partnerships.

Third Sector

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 78 of the Government's Civil Society Strategy published in August 2018, what work his Department has undertaken with the Charity Commission to explore options for placing that organisation on a secure and sustainable financial footing and ensuring it is adequately resourced to meet future challenges.

Mims Davies: The Charity Commission performs an important role as independent registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales. Government officials have regular meetings with the Charity Commission to discuss a broad range of topics, including the Commission’s resourcing.In January 2018, government increased the Charity Commission’s annual budget by £5m, in recognition of increased demands on its core regulatory functions.

Third Sector

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 15 of the Government's Civil Society Strategy published in August 2018, what progress his Department has made on working with the Big Lottery Fund to use £55 million from dormant accounts to fund a new, independent organisation which will work with partners across the private and social sectors to tackle financial exclusion.

Mims Davies: Financial exclusion blights lives and as part of the Civil Society Strategy the Government committed to working with the National Lottery Community Fund, previously known as the Big Lottery Fund , to use £55 million from dormant accounts to fund a new, independent organisation to tackle it. The Founding Chair of this new organisation is being appointed by a nomination panel independent of government, and their decision will be announced in due course.

Cybercrime: EU Action

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government holds information on the number of times that competent authorities have issued (a) warnings, (b) information notices, (c) inspections, (d) enforcement notices and (e) penalties under the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018.

Margot James: The competent authorities have the powers to audit and inspect, and to issue information, enforcement and penalty notices, so they hold the information on the number of audits conducted and notices issued in each sector. Under the NIS Regulations, competent authorities do not have a legal obligation to share that information with DCMS or Cabinet Office.

Horseracing

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what representations he has received from the racing industry on potential disruption to race meetings as a result of an incompatibility of quarantine rules between the UK, Ireland and France in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mims Davies: The Government maintains regular contact with the equine industry, including the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and the Thoroughbred Breeders Association, to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the racing industry when the UK leaves the EU. The rules for importing equines on day one in the event of no deal will remain the same in principle, so we do not anticipate that racing or competition will be significantly adversely affected. However in the event of no deal, the UK will no longer be part of the Tripartite Agreement (TPA), which is a derogation of EU law and allows streamlined movement of some horses between Ireland, France and the UK. The industry is aware of this potential change and has increased their preparations in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The EU is set to introduce ‘Smarter Rules for Safer Food’ in April 2021. This will streamline animal movement rules and may include the replacement of the TPA. The equine industries of France, Ireland and the UK, have proposed to the European Commission that any replacement for the TPA introduced in 2021 be extended to cover equines of a high health status from third countries. The Government is supporting this proposal, as it would allow the UK to retain the benefits of the TPA once we leave the EU. Governments of France and Ireland are also supportive.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Official Engagements

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what formal engagements she has had with (a) private, (b) public and (c) voluntary sector employers since 1 November 2018.

Karen Bradley: I meet regularly with employers from private, public and voluntary sectors in Northern Ireland. A full list of meetings is published quarterly on:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications.

Northern Ireland Office: Official Engagements

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will publish her formal engagements with representatives of trade and industry bodies in Northern Ireland since 1 November 2018.

Karen Bradley: I meet regularly with employers from a large range of sectors in Northern Ireland. A full list of meetings is published quarterly on:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications.

Attorney General

Sentencing: Appeals

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Attorney General, what criminal convictions he has referred to the Court of Appeal as being unduly lenient in the last five years for which figures are available.

Robert Buckland: Annual data for the cases that have been referred to the Court of Appeal are publicly available for the years 2014-2016 on the gov.uk website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics?departments%5B%5D=attorney-generals-office. In 2017, 173 cases were referred to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient. In 2018, 140 cases were referred to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient, although two of those cases are yet to be heard.